


Lazyrinth

by gay_ginger_uprising_2025



Category: Labyrinth (1986), LazyTown
Genre: Crossover, Elf Sportacus (LazyTown), Love Triangle, M/M, Magical Robbie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-03-15 12:58:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 45,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13613856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gay_ginger_uprising_2025/pseuds/gay_ginger_uprising_2025
Summary: An accidental wish to a vengeful Goblin King causes the children of Lazytown to vanish. Now, it is up to Robbie and Sportacus to solve the puzzle of the Labyrinth to save them - though will the journey prove too perilous for this duo? What plans does the mysterious Jareth have in store for them - and more specifically, what does he want with Robbie?





	1. The Terrible Day

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, welcome to my first fic on this site (or ever actually lol - unless you count the works I had on Quizilla way back in the olden days) 
> 
> As you probably saw in the tags/summary, this is a crossover fic between LazyTown and Labyrinth. It's a bit odd, but I find that it works. I was inspired to create this fic almost a year ago, and only now have I actually started the steps towards actually writing and publishing it. 
> 
> I really can't explain much without giving a lot away, but I will say this - I have this set at a Teen rating, though depending how the later chapters go I might change this rating. If you guys think this work needs to have a different rating please let me know. I will try to post as regularly as possible, but if I fall behind please forgive me. 
> 
> First chapter is short, but they get longer I promise!!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy my work <3

It was a warm, sunny day in LazyTown. The sky was a pristine blue with not a single cloud - Birds were chirping in the treetops, and as usual, the residents were out enjoying the day. Miss busybody was out on her lawn chair catching a few rays, a drink in one hand, and her cell phone in the other. Mayor Meanswell was close by to attend to her every need. He squeezed some lemons for lemonade while humming softly to himself, his eyes glancing over to Miss busybody every now and again.

The children were playing a game of soccer in the park with Sportacus. They laughed as they chased the ball around, cheering with each goal they made. Sportacus cheered with them, encouraging them with "good work!" every now and again as the game progressed. 

Everyone seemed to be in a good mood that day... Well, everyone except for one.

Robbie was walking back to his lair with a scowl on his face. He had gone through all the trouble of getting up out of his chair on a _Saturday_ to go to the store, only to find out that they were completely out of his favorite cake mix. This had especially pissed him off because, for one, _HE_ was the only one in town that seemed to eat cake anymore since Sportaflop came to town. Now the kids ate disgusting food like _grapes_ and _celery_. Yuck. Second, even if they decided today was a cake day, no one else in town bought purple cake besides him – _HE_ was the purple guy. They had plenty of pink and blue and whatever color cakes at the store that they could have bought, but they just _had_ to ruin his day.  
  
Robbie huffed as he approached a bench, crossing his arms as he sat down. There were tears threatening to spill forth from the corners of his eyes that he tried his best to stop. A shaky breath escaped his lips, and he bit his lip to quiet himself. He hated being in town on a weekend, especially when there were good shows on TV to be watched. More than anything he just wanted to be home – he was tired and cranky and disappointed and sad; despite these things, even though they didn’t make much sense even to him, he refused to take another step home. He wanted a nap, even if it was right in the middle of town. He didn’t care. He was done with today.

Just as he began to lay down though, a familiar blue blur started making its way towards Robbie. _Oh great_ , Robbie thought, closing his eyes tightly. He hoped maybe that blue elf would think he was already asleep and just leave him alone. For extra measure, he began to snore too.  
  
It didn’t work though. He felt a gust of wind against his face, and heard the faint huffing of Sportacus’ breath above him. “Robbie!” Sportacus said, “It’s good seeing you outside on a nice day like this!”  
  
Robbie didn’t even open his eyes to acknowledge the elf. He was feeling too salty to care about manners, especially around the blue menace. “Oh, is it?” Robbie said, his voice low and laced with annoyance.

If Sportacus caught his tone, he didn’t seem to care. He instead bent down so that his face was level with Robbie’s. With a soft chuckle, he said, “The kids wanted me to ask you if you wanted to play ball with us. Would you like to join us?”

“Never in a million, bazillion years,” Robbie said as he turned around on the bench so that his face was pressed against the back of the seat. It smelled like plastic and it was hot from the sun shinning on it, but he was determined to ignore Sportacus.  
  
Sportacus sighed, and Robbie could practically _feel_ the disappointment coming from the elf. “Okay Robbie, if that’s what you want…”  
  
With that, Sportacus left. Robbie could hear his feet hitting the pavement as he ran, though he also noticed that the elf had refrained from doing and flips. _Good,_ Robbie thought. _Maybe I should disappoint him more often so he never flippy flips again._  
  
Once Robbie heard the soccer game resuming, he sat back up. The satisfaction of getting Sportacus to leave him alone gave him a bit of new energy. He didn’t need a nap… yet. Though he didn’t really want to walk home just yet either. After a moment he glanced over at the billboard hiding his home sweet home. It was a good 3 houses away still. _So, so far_ Robbie thought with a sigh.

He’d force himself to get up in a second; all this fresh air was starting to hurt his lungs. _Just a few more min…_  
  
The hair on his neck stood on end as a strange shiver overcame him. Robbie paused, his brow furrowing. Something felt… off? He didn’t know how to describe the feeling. It was like a really cold breeze blew through Lazytown that went straight to his bones. He didn’t like it. _Oh great, now I’m gonna to catch my death of cold being outside for so long._  
  
With that, he got up to leave, crossing his arms to hug himself for warmth. As he got up though ne noticed a pair of eyes watching him from a nearby tree. For a second he thought it was the kitten stuck in the tree again. He walked up to the tree, rolling his eyes slightly that the kitten managed _again_ to get stuck… though upon closer inspection he saw that it wasn’t the kitten.  
  
“… an owl?” Robbie said.  
  
It was a gorgeous white owl with a head in the shape of a heart. Robbie couldn’t help but gasp. He had never seen an owl like that around LazyTown before. Heck, he’d never seen an owl out in the middle of the day before. He moved closer to look at the owl. It looked back at him, tilting its head to the side slightly as it peered down at him with big, almost human like eyes. Robbie was entranced with the eyes; they were strange, with one pupil bigger than the other. Perhaps the owl had an injury or something, though he didn’t notice any scars on the owl. It was strange… though Robbie liked it. It was so unlike anything around LazyTown; it was beautiful – and quiet too.  
  
“The whole town should take a cue from you,” Robbie said. “Everything here is so… _Loud_ and _obnoxious_ …”  
  
He shook his head, sighing at himself. “Never thought I’d be talking to an owl, but hey it’s not like anyone else here has anything good to talk about. What’s new with you?”

The owl gave a soft ‘hoot’ in response, fluffing up its feathers slightly. Robbie didn’t know what this meant in bird, but hey, if the damn thing wasn’t attacking him that was a good sign. “Hmm I see… yeah not much new with me either. I’m just taking it easy these days, not trying any heists or anything… not that they would work if I tried.”  
  
The response was another hoot, and the owl titled its head as if in curiosity. Robbie chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve been trying for years to get that pesky blue smurf out of my town,” he said, before pointing over at Sportacus. “You see him over there, the annoyingly blue one?”  
  
Robbie watched as the owl turned its head toward the crowd of children. Perhaps Robbie was just imaging it, but the owl half blinked its eyes in a way that almost looked like a glare. “Yeah, it’s not just him though. It’s all those kids! They use to be so good and quiet and now he’s… he’s _corrupted_ them! I can’t get any rest these days because of them!”  
  
He sighed, clenching his fists in frustration. “My life would be so much easier without them…”  
  
With a soft hum, the owl swooped down from the branch right towards Robbie. He flinched, jerking away as he braced for attack. However, the owl just landed on his shoulder softly; so softly that he didn’t even feel the creature’s sharp talons. It took him a moment to readjust himself, but it wasn’t too long before Robbie was comfortably looking into the owls eyes not even a foot away from his own. He had been holding his breath, and he let it out in a shaky sign. This was so weird; he didn’t know what to do at all. He was at the mercy of the owl and honestly, he didn’t know if the owl was gonna peck out his eyes or not but he _liked_ this.

There was something about this owl that he couldn’t put his finger on…

After a moment, the owl reached behind to dig under its wing. Out from under it, it pulled a wrapped-up piece of cloth and presented it to Robbie. “Are you like a messenger owl or something?” Robbie reached his hand up tentatively. “…May I?”  
  
The owl dropped the parcel in his hand. Robbie looked down at it, slowly closing his hand around it. The thing was much heavier than he thought it would be, almost like it was a rock. Slowly, he began to unwrap the thing, and gasped when he saw what it was. It was an arrowhead-like pendant of some sort, with a swirling design in the middle. He ran his finger over the design. “It’s… it’s beautiful,” he said, his voice barely a whisper.  
  
He felt the owl tense on his shoulder, and in an instant the owl took off flying. “Wait-”

Robbie felt an excruciating force hit the back of his head. It made him double over, nearly falling to the ground. He winced, cupping his head as a horrible throbbing ache overcame him. Tears began to form in the corners of his eyes, but he didn’t fight them. A soft sob broke out from his lips, and he slowly turned his head to see what the heck had happened.

A soccer ball was a few feet away from him, and over at the park was a crowd of guilty looking children and their supervisor. Sportacus smiled awkwardly, a nervous look on his face as he rubbed the back of his head. That smile… that damn fucking cheesy smile…

“Robbie! Sorry, the kids and I got a bit carried away-”

“Shut… up.” Robbie said between barred teeth. Tears were rolling down his face from the ache and embarrassment and rage that he felt but he didn’t care. He. Was. Done.

Stephanie gasped. “Robbie, it was an accident! We’re sorry!”  
  
“I said shut UP!” Robbie said, his voice getting louder and louder with each word that he spat. The children huddled behind Sportacus in fear, and Sportacus outstretched his arms as if to shield them from Robbie.  
  
“Robbie, please,” Sportacus said in a tone that Robbie just hated – stern, controlling… afraid maybe? He didn’t know but it made him _mad._  
  
“I am sick and tired of _you_ \- no, ALL of you _ruining_ my life. Of you…. You BRATS beings so loud and annoying. I’m TIRED of you guys ruining everything and buying all my cake that you guys don’t even like anyway and making me walk all the way to the store and all the way back and hitting me in the head with a _ball_ and making me the bad guy for it! I’M TIRED OF HAVING TO LIVE IN A TOWN FULL OF BRATS THAT HATE ME! WELL GUESS WHAT?! I HATE YOU TOO!!!!”  
  
“Robbie!” Sportacus shouted, absolutely horrified. “Stop!”  
  
“NO!” Robbie shouted back. “I WONT STOP! I’M DONE! I WISH… I WISH THOSE BRATS WOULD JUST DISAPEAR!!!”

With that, Robbie spun on his heel and marched all the way home to his lair. He didn’t look back, he didn’t stop once. With a loud slam of the hatch door, he slid down the shoots and landed right in his chair. He grabbed his blankie and sniffled angrily and he curled up for a nap.

And for once, there was peace and quiet as he drifted off to sleep.

\------

From up in his tree, Jareth heard every word, and he smiled. _Your wish is my command…_  
  



	2. The First Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry that this is a bit late everyone! I've been having problems with my internet and I only just got it fixed X'D - anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I just want to say THANK YOU for all the kudos and comments! They really mean a lot to me <3 
> 
> This chapter is a bit longer, and I hope you all enjoy it!

Robbie had never noticed the large, ornate doors in the middle of his lair before. He tried to remember if this was an invention of his, or perhaps part of a scheme he was planning. It certainly didn't seem like it; usually he didn’t forget about things like this, so where could the doors have come from? He slowly got up from his chair and walked over to examine them closer. They were much fancier than anything he owned, the craftsmanship he acknowledged to be far beyond his own. He ran his hand over the smooth wood, noticing how he could see his own reflection in the glossy shine; it was beautiful.

A laugh sounded out from the door, and Robbie pulled his hand away. The laughter stopped. Hesitantly, he leaned in, pressing his ear close. His eyes widened as he heard music, and voices of all sorts laughing and talking and singing. It... Sounded like a party almost – and if the doors were indication, it was a fancy party

Robbie felt very awkward and pulled away from the door. He had never been to a party like that. Heck, the only party he had ever gone to was a child's birthday party. Surely this was above him.

However, as he turned to go back to his chair, the doors opened slightly. The sound of laughter and music drifted through the ajar door like a breeze. A shiver ran down Robbie’s spine as the beautiful sound of violins and soft chimes hit his ears. The song felt familiar to him for some reason. Robbie’s curiosity got the best of him, and he quietly inched forward to peer in on the party. He gasped at what he saw.

It was a gorgeous mascaraed party in a mirrored hall. Some people were slowly dancing in tune to the music, though most people stood to the sides of the room chatting amongst themselves and eating food. Many of them were laughing, their chuckles almost mad-like – though Robbie knew that he was probably the mad one. He hid as a person carrying a platter of food walked past the door; the smell of what Robbie hoped was cookies drifted away with the tray they were carrying. 

God, the food smelled good. Robbie’s mouth was watering as he looked back into the room and saw a gorgeous 8 tier cake at the hors d'oeuvres table… maybe he would drop in just for a quick slice and be out before anyone noticed.

He snuck through the door, trying his best to avoid eyes as he scampered to the side of the room. No one seemed to be paying him any attention, so he continued to the table. He smiled as he glanced the cake over. Never had he seen someone take the art of cake to this level. It was god like in his eyes, with a glossy purple glaze, topped with tiny pink pearl candies on lilac marzipan ribbons. This was his dream cake! He quickly cut himself a slice, placing it on a pretty white napkin with as much care as possible. It smelled so good, much better than any cake he had ever had before.

Robbie didn’t like eating in front of people – he hated how people would look at him… but he didn’t care, he needed to eat this cake now. With all the grace of a pig, he snarfed down the slice, getting a good amount of the frosting on his face in the process. His eyes rolled back in his head; it tasted even better than it looked, and Robbie could swear he was being flown to heaven. He used the napkin to get the rest of the frosting off his face, then he ate that up too. It wasn’t enough though, and he went for another slice of cake. He got an even bigger piece this time and smiled as he brought it to his mouth.

“Ah, there you are my dear,” a strong voice said behind him, causing Robbie to freeze. The person was addressing him, he knew it, and he could feel their eyes on his back. He knew it was a bad idea to come in here! With a sigh, he sat the slice of cake back down on the table and slowly turned around to face the voice. Robbie’s eyes widened.

The voice belonged to a man… or what Robbie assumed was a male being of some sort. He doubted that the person was human; the way the light bended around his face was far too mystifying to be humanly possible. His hair was loud, each silky tendril splaying out atop his head like the crown of an exotic bird; it looked so, so soft. He was wearing a blue waist coat with a ruffled white blouse underneath it. His pants were… Robbie fixed his eyes above the man’s waist like his life depended on it, a soft blush on his face. _Dear god…_

His eyes flitted over to the door, still ajar and waiting for him. He just wanted to leave; people were starting to look at him. The being turned to follow his gaze, and he made a sound of disappointment as he seemed to realize what Robbie was wanting. A sad frown formed on his face.

“Is this not to your satisfaction my dear?” he asked before gesturing to the room around them. “I thought this would be a nice change to the ‘obnoxiousness’ of that sad little town.”

Everyone was watching them now, their eyes wide through the macabre masks they wore. The music had stopped too – and everything was completely silent. Robbie folded his arms close to him, his hands fidgeting nervously. He wanted to cry. The tears were welling up in his eyes, and he looked to the floor, hoping it would swallow him up. He hated people looking at him like this; god, there were so many people!

The being seemed to sense his discomfort, and with a snap of his fingers, everyone returned to what they had been doing. Music resumed, and everyone moved from their places of rest to dance. Only one pair of eyes were on Robbie now, and Robbie hesitantly looked up. The being smiled softly and took a small step towards Robbie. If it wasn’t for the table right behind him, Robbie would have taken a step back himself.

He had no idea what was going on. He was scared and confused, and he just wanted to go home. More than anything, he wished this being would leave him alone… yet at the same time a timid curiosity overcame him. Who was he? _What_ was he? Was he angry at Robbie for eating his cake?

“Look, whatever I did I’m sorry. I’ll just go home and we can forget about this,” Robbie said, his voice shaking. The being paused, a pitying smile dampening his face as he took quick, melodic steps towards Robbie. Robbie averted his gaze once the being was not but a foot away from him, and as the being reached out to touch him he flinched. It was a moment before Robbie unclenched himself enough to open his eyes, and immediately he wanted to close them again when his eyes met the beings. This was _too_ close for strangers.

Yet… he knew those eyes.

One was larger than the other, the pupil permanently dilated. He had only seen these eyes once before. Robbie shook his head slightly. No… no, it couldn’t be, could it? That didn’t make sense. None of this made sense.

“… You’re the owl?” Robbie asked, growing more and more confused by the second. There was a moment of silence before the being started to laugh. Robbie’s face turned a soft pink, and he frowned. That was a stupid question, he knew, but did the jerk have to mock him by laughing? 

Once the being was done chuckling, he sighed and smiled softly. Robbie studied his face. There didn’t seem to be a mocking tone in his eyes, though there was a… strange amusement that he didn’t quite like.

“Yes, I am ‘the owl’ you saw,” the being said with a sly smile. He then leaned in to Robbie’s ear, causing him to blush and swallow nervously. The being chuckled, growling slightly as he said, “… Though I’ve never had anyone address me as such.”

“I’m… sorry,” Robbie said, his voice unsure. Was the being angry? Amused? He had no idea what was going on or what this thing wanted of him and he just wanted to go home.  The being tsked him softly, reaching out to grab Robbie’s hand. Robbie wanted to pull away yet stopped as the silky warmness of the being’s hand covered his own. It was… oddly soothing.

No one had ever held his hand like this before.

“You can call me Jareth,” the being said, bringing Robbie’s hand up to his lips. A spark of lightning shot through Robbie’s body as Jareth kissed his hand. His face felt hot and his knees weak; he forgot how to breath. Jareth gave a low chuckle, his eyes locked tightly with Robbie’s in a way so intimate like nothing Robbie had ever felt before.

"Would you like to dance?" Jareth asked, slowly lowering Robbie's hand but not letting it go. 

"W-what?" Robbie said, his eyes wide and voice shaky. Dance? With him? Was this guy crazy? He dumbly stared at Jareth. What was with this guy? Robbie had to admit, the guy was really attractive... So why was he wasting his time with him?  
  
Jareth chucked softly. There was a mirth in the chuckle that Robbie would almost call flattering, though he was sure that he had also annoyed him. Jareth lowered Robbie’s hand, leaning in once more to whisper in Robbie’s ear. "I said, would you like to dance?"

Jareth gave Robbie's hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze. There was a smirk of amusement on his face, though it wasn't mocking or mean. To Robbie it felt... Playful. Playful in and adult way that no one had ever acted like with him. Robbie's breath was shallow, and his face felt hotter than it had ever felt before.  
  
Robbie opened his mouth but no words came out; he didn't know what to say, and even if he did he wouldn't have been able to speak. There was a hot guy wanting to dance with him!

Robbie sighed; he was finally going crazy

Jareth gestured to the dance floor. Part of Robbie felt like Jareth wasn't making a request about the dance - more like a command played off as a suggestion. He just had an air about him that screamed control... But strangely, Robbie liked it. It suited him.  
  
"… Okay" Robbie said, allowing himself to be lead onto the dance floor. Jareth placed a firm hand on Robbie's waist as they began to slowly sway back and forth. Robbie felt like he was on fire from how much he was blushing, and he knew he was probably sweating too. Gross. Jareth made a gentle ‘hmm’ sound, seemingly noticing Robbie’s discomfort.  
  
"Are you feeling alright darling?" Jareth asked, leaning in to whisper in Robbie's ear. Robbie held his breath, in shock at how close they were. He felt himself get even more hot. With a nervous laugh Robbie pulled his head away from Jareth’s, looking up at one of the chandeliers.  
  
"It's... It's just a bit warm in here," Robbie lied, refusing to look at his dance partner. Jareth was silent for a moment, then Robbie felt the man’s hands let go of him. Robbie looked at him in confusion, a bit worried that he had said the wrong thing. Jareth looked him over, then smiled softly.  
  
"Perhaps some clothes more suited for dancing would make you feel better," He said, and before Robbie could say anything a strange feeling overcame him. Robbie froze, his neck and shoulders and starting to feel a bit... Bare.  
  
He looked down and gasped. His striped suit had been replaced by a gorgeous white gown that billowed out past his hips like the petals of a white rose. It glimmered in the light of the room with glitter and gemstones, and despite how large the gown was, it was as light as a feather. A feeling of joy overcame him, and he twirled a few times to get a feel for the skirt.

Robbie loved dresses. Whenever he got to disguise himself as a woman, he always put extra detail into the gowns and had so much fun with it. They were just so… pretty. He made a mental note to think of more feminine disguises for future schemes.

“I thought you’d like it, my darling,” Jareth said, watching Robbie twirl. “I have to say, it looks even more stunning on you than I thought it would.”

Robbie paused, looking at Jareth with a confused frown. He waited for the man to laugh at him and call him stupid for wearing a dress… yet the laughter didn’t come; there was just soft eyes and a warm smile. Jareth didn’t seem to be playing a cruel joke, yet he _should_ have been. I mean, nobody likes a guy in a dress, right?

“… you’re playing a joke on me.” Robbie said, his tone implying it as a fact. He crossed his arms, turning away from Jareth with a pout. “Nice try, owl boy. I’ll have you know it won’t work!”

There was a moment of silence before Jareth sighed.

“Darling…” Jareth said as he reached out for Robbie, grabbing his shoulder before gently turning him around. The amusement was gone out of his eyes. Robbie shivered. “Why would I be playing a joke on you?”

“Because I’m _Robbie Rotten_ , and I _never_ get this lucky,” Robbie said, his voice trembling with emotion he didn’t intend to feel. He felt sad, angry, and hopeful… hopeful deep down that maybe this was all real. But he was the villain, and if all his years fighting Sportacus had taught him anything…

The villain always loses.

He sighed, “I’m just the goofy guy who dresses up in costumes and makes everyone’s day harder for them.”

Jareth grabbed both of Robbie’s shoulders, forcing him to meet his gaze. Jareth didn’t say a word for a long time. Robbie stared back at the man sadly, just hoping he would drop the act soon. There was no sense drawing out this torture; he hoped the owl man wouldn’t be so cruel. It felt like an eternity before Jareth finally said, “Sportacus must be an evil creature to make such a perfect and gorgeous man like you feel so horrible about yourself.”

Robbie felt his heart throb. He decided that he must have not heard that right, but before he could ask Jareth to repeat himself, the owl man said, “Darling, you deserve better – and I am not playing any jokes. All I want is to have the honor of dancing with you, and hopefully begin to give you the respect you have been so severely lacking. Is that alright?”

There was nothing that Robbie could do but stand there and gawk at the man. Never had anyone said something so nice to him… he felt the tears well up in his eyes and he fought them as hard as he could; he wasn’t about to cry in front of this man and ruin this. With his heart racing, Robbie nodded, and allowed Jareth to lead him onto the dancefloor once again.

This time, the dancefloor cleared, and everyone seemed to vanish from sight. The lights dimmed, and a soft melody began to play just for them. It was so private and so intimate like nothing Robbie had ever experienced before, and as Jareth placed his hand on Robbie’s hip, he trembled. He was pulled close against Jareth as they slowly danced around the room. Their eyes were locked, and Robbie stared wide eyed the entire time; his cheeks were hot from blushing.

Robbie’s heart was beating faster than it had ever beat before. He was certain that Jareth could feel it, but it didn’t seem that the owl man cared; Jareth seemed far too busy staring deeply and intensely into Robbie’s eyes to care about anything else. After a while, Jareth closed the gap between them even further, his hand finding the small of Robbie’s back. He guided Robbie against him until they were practically hugging right there on the dance floor. Jareth’s body felt lean and soft against him, and Robbie gasped. They were dancing cheek to cheek, and Robbie felt Jareth’s lips graze his ear. The feeling sent a jolt throughout his entire body. Jareth chuckled in a way that made Robbie’s heart melt.

Then, after placing a soft kiss of Robbie’s cheek, Jareth began to sing.

“ _I'll paint you mornings of gold_  
_I'll spin you Valentine evenings_  
 _Though we're strangers 'til now,_  
 _We're choosing the path_  
 _Between the stars_  
 _I'll leave my love_  
 _Between the stars_

_As the pain sweeps through,_  
_Makes no sense for you_  
 _Every thrill is gone_  
 _Wasn't too much fun at all,_  
 _But I'll be there for you-ou-ou_  
 _As the world falls down_

_Falling_  
_As the world falls down_  
 _Falling_  
 _As the world falls down_  
 _Falling_  
 _Falling_  
 _Falling_  
 _Falling in love_.”

Jareth’s voice was that of a god. Robbie was in awe; so much so that he didn’t realize that they had stopped dancing until Jareth stopped singing. The music had stopped, and the only light remaining in the room was a single candle. Robbie clung to Jareth, pulling away only just enough to meet his gaze. He had never felt this way before – he felt warm inside, as if there were butterflies flying inside of him and if felt _good._ No one had ever made him feel this way before…

He felt sort of foolish almost, a small nagging voice at the back of his mind still screaming that this was all a joke. It took a lot of strength to push those thoughts aside though. While he was still so confused as to what was going on, he didn’t want to believe this man was anything but the answer to a lifetime of suffering.

Jareth had shown him a whole new world – he had touched him in ways that no one had dared touch him and said words to him that no one had ever thought to say; and they were exactly the things that Robbie had always wanted deep down. As he stared into Jareth’s eyes, he prayed that he’d never have to look away. If he never ever found his way back to his lair after this he wouldn’t care. Perhaps deep down he had actually longed for someone to take him away from LazyTown, and maybe… just maybe, the universe was finally being kind to him.

Maybe Jareth was what he wanted all along.

As they stood together in the dimness, Robbie wished that Jareth would be the one between them to have enough courage to close the gap between them even further. His eyes trailed down to the soft, strong looking lips of the owl man, and he wanted to know so badly what they felt like against his. It would have been his first kiss…

“Darling, have I pleased you tonight?” Jareth asked, his hands holding Robbie firmly in a way that felt so perfectly possessive to Robbie. It took a moment before Robbie could find the strength enough to nod. Jareth smiled, almost relieved, pressing their foreheads together in a way that made Robbie’s breath hitch; their eyes were still locked.

As the last candle began to dim into nothingness, Jareth held Robbie even tighter. It almost hurt Robbie, but he didn’t want to be let go. Robbie didn’t want this to ever end… and, as if Jareth had magically read Robbie’s mind, he said the one thing that set Robbie’s heart on fire even more.

“Stay with me.”

He could feel Jareth lean forward, their lips almost touching, their breaths mingling together in a way that felt so intimate to Robbie… and he felt tears of joy form at the corners of his eyes. This was so perfect, so wonderful, and he felt like he must be dreaming…

_… Robbie…_

Jareth clutched Robbie hard enough to make him wince, and Robbie noticed the owl man’s eyes widen in what might have been panic. The voice that had said his name felt so far away… yet he felt a strange draw towards it. He didn’t want to go though; he wanted to stay here!

_Robbie… Robbie wake up…_

Jareth seemed to be able to hear it too, and the look on his face was enough to break Robbie’s heart; panic and pain, and the way that he held Robbie was so strong and painful. “Darling, stay with me.”

_Robbie, you need to wake up. Now._

Robbie was being pulled away from Jareth by a force unknown to him. Jareth’s grip was starting to hurt so bad, but Robbie didn’t care because he _needed_ to stay. Eventually, Robbie was ripped from Jareth’s grasp by a cruel force, and he finally let the tears slip down his face. This couldn’t be happening!

He reached out to Jareth, but he couldn’t grab hold of his owl man. “Jareth… I don’t wanna go!”

_ROBBIE!_

“No!” Robbie screamed as he was dragged away, his body slamming to the floor as if he was being dragged by his ankles. “Jareth!!!! JARETH HELP ME!!!!!”

The final candle faded to nothingness, and the last thing Robbie saw was the sad frown on Jareth’s face. With all the agony hitting Robbie at once, he let out a horrible, soul crushing scream.

The universe had played another joke on him.


	3. The Long Search

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA i'm so sorry everyone!!! Life happened - I had to abruptly move and then I had finals and now i'm only just getting back to normal! Please forgive me everyone!!!
> 
> This chapter is a bit longer to make up for the wait. Thank you all for the kuddos and comments they really mean a lot to me <3 
> 
> Enjoy :3

To be honest, Sportacus felt bad about waking Robbie. While he personally didn’t understand it, he knew that Robbie valued being able to rest and he certainly didn’t want to take that away from him… especially not after the day he had. However, the second Sportacus had entered the lair, he knew something was wrong. His crystal had given a low hum of concern against his chest, and he had felt… It wasn’t something he could quite put his finger on, but it was faintly familiar.

Familiar in a _bad_ way. As he tried to wake Robbie, even touching the tall man sent a shiver up his spine. It didn’t help that the feeling got worse and worse the more Sportacus called out to him. Once he had finally broken past the bad aura it was like being plunged into a pool of ice, but it was worth it once he saw Robbie’s eyes open.

Sportacus forced a smile, trying to hide his restlessness and fear. He was hoping that Robbie wouldn’t be in _too_ bad of a mood for being woken up… but the second he saw the tears stream down Robbie’s face he knew it was too late.

“Robbie, I’m sorry, I had to wake you up,” he said, placing a cautious hand on the arm of Robbie’s chair. Robbie was silent, his wide eyes staring into Sportacus’s almost in disbelief. Taking the quiet as a cue, he pushed further. “Robbie, are you okay?”

“… Why. Are. You. _Here_ ,” Robbie finally said, his fist clenching together against his blanket until his knuckles were white. His lip trembled, and Sportacus could feel a tension build within Robbie as if he was attempting to keep composure though he ultimately failed. As Robbie stood from his chair, Sportacus took quick strides backwards, wanting to make sure the man had plenty of space; he didn’t want to make this situation worse than it already was. Robbie stood with his back to Sportacus, and the man crossed his arms. The elf frowned.

“Robbie, I know I shouldn’t be down here…” Sportacus started, trailing off as he watched Robbie’s composure begin to deteriorate. Fast. The man was crying, and Sportacus’s crystal began to glow a sad, aching light that made his heart hurt. The elf wondered if perhaps this was because of the trance Robbie had been under, though he didn’t dare push further. Instead, he sighed and lowered his head.

“Robbie, something happened in town… the children are gone,” Sportacus said, not bothering to fake a positive tone for his voice. “I’ve looked everywhere for them, but they just _disappeared_. I came down here looking for them, and I was… worried that you were in trouble too.”

The way Robbie tensed and turned around made Sportacus raise his head. All that was left of the tears was one stray droplet falling down the tall man’s cheek. Robbie wore a look of shock and disbelief, his mouth open slightly as he just stared at the elf. There seemed to be a new light in his eyes, and the crystal began to fade in its alarm. The tall man swallowed, “Gone… what do you mean _gone_?”

“After you left… I went to get the ball… the one that hit you, and then as soon as I turned around they just weren’t there. At first, I thought that they had ran off because they were upset but I’ve been searching for _hours_. The Mayor and Miss Busybody have been helping me too… The Mayor is a wreck right now.”

“… I see…” Robbie said, just staring at Sportacus in a daze. Sportacus stood there for a moment, watching Robbie and cautiously glancing around the lair. Miss Busybody had made a comment about the possibility of Robbie pulling one of his heists, Milford agreeing in his panicked stupor, though Sportacus had doubted that was the case. For one, he knew Robbie well enough to know that the tall man hated being anywhere near the children… or anyone for that matter, when he was upset - and Robbie had been really upset that day.

Second, if Robbie had taken the children, his crystal would have been going off like crazy from the fear of the children alone. However, his crystal was silent, and he couldn’t sense the children anymore. It was almost like they didn’t exist… He hated to think of what that meant.

“I’m sorry for disturbing you Robbie,” Sportacus said, turning towards the exit. “… If you hear anything, please let me know?”

Robbie didn’t say a word; he didn’t seem to move either. Sportacus’s mind kept flashing to the tears that had rolled down the tall man’s pale cheek, and he felt the sorrow in Robbie’s chest; it was like being stabbed with a knife. Robbie always seemed to be so sad – that’s why the kids had suggested making him his favorite cake to bring a smile to his face. Even Sportacus had helped, though he had to be very careful not to touch anything with his bare hands. Stephanie had taught him how to make pretty purple frosting ribbons, and she used tiny edible pearls from a baking kit of hers to make the cake even better. He had felt so proud of the children.

If only they had gotten to show it to Robbie. Sportacus knew Robbie would have loved it, and maybe, just maybe… he would have been able to see Robbie smile.

Sportacus sighed, leaving the lair with a heavy heart. He ached for Robbie, but more so for the children; he didn’t want to think about what was happening with them, and just wished he could find _any_ clues about where they were. Sportacus needed, _needed_ to find them.

He wasn’t going to lose them. Not them… His heart couldn’t bear the loss. He bit his lip, feeling his stomach sink. Losing them would bring so much shame…

He shook his head, trying to rid his mind of selfish thoughts – this wasn’t about him; he didn’t matter right now. The children were first above all else. Despite this, one lone thought forced its way through. It spoke in a voice he had long tried to forget, and a shiver ran down his spine.

_What else have you left to lose from shame, you fool?_

\---

Robbie heard the hatch close, and only then did he fully let himself break. He let out a sob, clutching at his mouth as he crawled back into his chair. It was pathetic to cry over a dream; and he should have known it was too good to be true…

Yet he couldn’t get over the way Jareth held him as they danced – to him, it was as real to romance as he had ever gotten. Or, Robbie’s pessimism thought bitterly, it was the closest he would _ever_ get to romance. 

He grabbed his blankie, holding it close as he sniffed at the familiarity of it. It reminded him of naps and ice cream and cake and all the good things he had in life – the safe things. “It was just a bad dream,” he said, forcing himself to stop crying. “A bad… wonderful dream… but that’s all it was”

As he curled up into a tight ball, he sighed. Soon it would all be forgotten, and he could go back to hating Sportacus and eating cake and being lazy and-

“OUCH!” He said, jumping out of his chair with a cry. Something sharp had poked him right in the butt. As he rubbed what he was sure to become a big bruise, he looked at his chair with offense. Had his favorite chair betrayed him too? Was there nothing left that was sacred in this world?

His eyes widened as he saw what had poked him. It had wedged itself between the cushion with the pointed end sticking up – a dangerous trap for someone who wasn’t paying attention.

“… Jareth’s medallion?” Robbie said, picking up cautiously. It felt so odd in his hand, as if it shouldn’t even be real. I mean, it _shouldn’t_ have been real, right? He would have pinched himself if the medallion hadn’t already hurt him. Slowly, he brought it up to his chest and sighed as he hugged it. Was this what Cinderella felt like when she got to keep one glass slipper after the ball?

Robbie knew he would treasure it – the one small memento from the best night of his sad life. He unclasped the chain and placed it around his neck. It was heavy, and he had to fight the urge to slouch from it’s weight. He would get use to the weight though; he would… get _stronger_ and get _muscles_ from carrying it around, though he dreaded the idea. Not that he had to _tell_ anyone that he was doing such a vile thing. Robbie rolled his eyes at the mere thought of Sportacus noticing him doing exercise.

_Wow Robbie! You’re getting so strong! Soon you’ll be just as strong as me and you’ll have so much energy that you’ll never be able to have naps and the kids will want you to play sports with them forever and ever and ever-_

He shook the horrible thought out of his head as he tucked the medallion into his vest. No one had to know his little secret. A small frown worked its way onto his face and he sighed. _The kids…_

Sportacus wasn’t the type of person to lie – so what he had said about the children had to have been true. They were missing… missing so bad that not even the blue wonder could find them. Slowly Robbie’s smile turned into a scheming grin. This might still turn out to be a good day after all.

“If there are no kids in LazyTown, then Sportacus will have to _leave_! And I can make LazyTown Lazy FOREVER!”

He laughed, a surge of excitement causing him to dance around his lair – the heartbreak he had felt seemingly gone from his mind as he thought of Sportacus leaving for good. He had dreamed of this day for so, so long.

“That elf will be frowning and sad, and he’ll hug the mayor and Ms. Busybody good bye as they wished him luck out in the world. Sportacus will then turn to me, and with those puppy dog eyes he’ll say, ‘You won Robbie, you fantastic Villain #1… LazyTown is yours forever – and I, Sportafailure, will leave for all time, never to be seen again’ and I’ll tell him to hit the road and all my troubles will be gone FOREVER!”

He paused, a thought suddenly coming to him. “… but what if he finds them… then he’ll have to STAY!” he gasped, biting his nails as he thought to himself. _What to do_ , he thought, _what to do!_ “Hmmm… I’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen!”

With a huff, he waltzed over to the hatch of his lair and threw it open. It was dark out, the town illuminated only by the glow of the streetlights and a spotlight shining down from Sportacus’s airship. It was cold, and Robbie shivered, wanting to go back inside his cozy warm lair already. In the distance, he could hear Milford’s frantic voice calling out to the children.

His joints popped painfully as he lifted himself out of the hatch, and he winced as his back cracked. Then, after straightening his vest, we waltzed over to town square. His footsteps echoed loudly in the empty street. The quiet almost felt… wrong. He sighed, walking a little bit faster towards town hall.

“Stephanie!? Stephanie is that you!?” A loud, trembling voice called out behind him. It was the mayor, and Robbie put on a fake smile as he turned around to greet the man. When he met eye to eye with him though, he almost jumped; the man was a complete wreck. His eyes were wide and wet with tears, and his lips were quivering with the threat of an emotional crisis. He looked… old. Old and scared and broken unlike the usually happy and pleasant man. Robbie swallowed slowly, thinking of what to say – but before he could even get out a ‘Hi’, Milford had his hands on his vest. With strength that shocked him, the mayor pulled Robbie down until they were eye to eye.

“ _You_!” the mayor said, balling his fists sharply against Robbie’s chest. It hurt – and more than anything it felt _wrong_ to see the mayor so unlike himself; Robbie was speechless.

He stammered for a second, trying to force himself to say _something_ before the mayor completely lost his temper. “I-”

The Mayor interrupted, a fit of angry tears streaming out if his eyes as his voice cracked into a shout. “What have you done with Stephanie!? Tell me now!”

“Milford? Milford did you find them?!” A voice called out not that far away that Robbie knew to be Ms. Busybody. Her heels clacked against the concrete roads as she ran over to where they were. Once she saw who Milford was dealing with, she gasped.  “ _You_!”

Robbie flashed her a sheepish smile, hoping that maybe she could convince Milford to let him go. “Yes, it’s me, the one and only- EUGH!” He flinched as he saw her reach into her purse and pull out a bottle of mace. _Oh for the love of god, where is that elf boy when you need him?!_

As if on cue, he felt a gust of wind blow past his face, and he knew Sportacus was there. With a dramatic sigh, he opened his eyes, knowing that Ms. Busybody wouldn’t spray him now. He never thought he’d ever be so happy to see that blue kangaroo; if Milford wasn’t pretty much holding him up by his collar he’d fall to his knees and kiss those blue boots.

“Guys, what’s going on? What are you doing to Robbie?” Sportacus said, looking between Milford and Bessie in confusion. His eyes lingered on Robbie in a way that made him feel both ashamed and relieved – not that he was doing anything _wrong_ to feel ashamed over… he was just making sure that the children were really gone.

“ _He_ has the children Sportacus!” Milford said, his voice harsh and unrelenting as he stared Robbie down. Robbie swallowed, his eyes locked on Sportacus as he quietly pleaded for help. Sportacus frowned, looking from Robbie to Milford. Milford shook Robbie slightly, enough to jar Robbie’s attention away from Sportacus’s gaze. The mayor was starting to get impatient. “We have to make him tell us where they are! Sportacus, you have to make him talk!”

Sportacus gently grabbed the Mayor by arms, easing the man’s grip on Robbie just enough for the taller man to fall to the ground. Robbie fell with a thud, and he trembled from the adrenaline rush and the cold. He was starting to think this whole scheme wasn’t worth it – after all, if Sportacus found the children, the Mayor wouldn’t want to _kill_ him. _The mayor has never been so… angry._ A sigh escaped his lips. _Abort mission! Abort mission!_

“Mr. Mayor, Robbie does not have the children,” Sportacus said, his voice as calm and as smooth as when he speaks to the children. Milford focused fiercely on Sportacus, hanging on to each word. Sportacus moved his hands from the mayor’s arms to the man’s shoulders, and the mayor seemed to calm a bit. “I’ve already searched his lair – I promise, he isn’t the one who took the children.”

“Then who did?” Ms. Busybody said, putting her hands on her hips as she still glared at Robbie. “It’s not like this town has a second villain.”

“Bessie, we don’t even know if they were taken,” Sportacus said, flashing her a smile that looked almost condescending to Robbie, but he didn’t comment on that. “We cannot lose our heads pointing and blaming each other - all we can know for certain is that they aren’t anywhere in town.”

There was a silence between the group of adults for a moment. Bessie put her mace away, and Milford finally just broke down into silent, agony riddled sobs. Robbie slowly got to his feet though he wasn’t quite sure what to do. He wanted to go home, though at the same time he didn’t want to be… alone. This was all starting to really scare him, and if the children were _taken_ , then who’s to say that he wouldn’t be next?

Sportacus cleared his throat, and all eyes turned to the elf. His eyes locked with Robbie, and he took a small, hesitant step towards the taller man. “Robbie, are you okay?”

Robbie nodded. Sportacus gave him a soft smile, his eyes lingering for a few seconds longer before he finally turned back to the other adults. “Alright… Bessie, did you call the RottenVille police department?”

“Yes, they said they’d get here by morning,” she said, the tone in her voice disgruntled. “Apparently there’s already a crisis in MayhemTown involving a gang… the children will have to wait for their help until then.”

Sportacus brought his hand to his chin, shaking his head at the news. “That could be too late by then… we need to keep looking. We already know that they’re not in town, so that only leaves the prairie around the town. It will take too long to search by foot, so I’m going try and see if I can find them with my airship.”

“What should _we_ do then?” Milford said, wringing his hands together in a nervous fidget.

Sportacus thought for a second. “Bessie, I want you to call all the towns in the area to see if anyone can help us. Milford, stay in town square… just in case the children come back – if they do, take them to town hall and call me immediately. I’ll keep you guys updated on anything I find-”

“W-what should I do?” Robbie said, his voice a bit shaky. Everyone turned to him in confusion, Sportacus donning a look that Robbie guessed to be surprise. His cheeks flushed as the elf’s mouth quirked in a smile; Robbie could tell he was pleased. _Great_ he thought, _Next thing you know he’ll think that I want to help all the time with everything._

“Robbie, you can come help me search – two sets of eyes are better than one!” Sportacus, turned towards his ship, and before Robbie could say anything, the blue wonder started flipping away towards his ship. “Come with me Robbie!”

“Great…” Robbie said, trying to fake enthusiasm in his voice. He _hated_ heights… but at the same time he didn’t want to stay in town with Bessie or Milford. Not that he thought that they’d try to mace him again, but he knew that they didn’t trust him. Right now, he really didn’t want to deal with that negativity, and although he hated to admit it, Sportacus’s positivity felt almost comforting.

He ran towards the airship, his lungs aching almost immediately. By the time he got there, he was wheezing and sweating and the pendant around his neck felt like it would make him fall over from the weight of it. Sportacus patted him on the back, trying to come off as encouraging, but it only made Robbie feel weak. _He’s not even breathing heavy…_

Sportacus had already called the ship down to ground level. Robbie was thankful that he didn’t have to climb that horrible ladder. “Door!” Sportacus said, his voice strong and commanding. Before the hatch had even fully opened Sportacus jumped inside. Robbie followed shortly after, and quickly made a beeline to the nearest secure object to hang on to. He did not have any fond memories of this place. A shiver ran up his spin as he remembered the last time he had come up her for one of his _brilliant_ plans. He closed his eyes tight and clung to the pole in the middle of the ship for dear life.

He could hear Sportacus flip over to the captain’s chair, and he braced for takeoff… but it didn’t come. Sportacus chuckled softly, and Robbie knew that the elf was looking at him. He probably looked ridiculous clinging to the pole, but he didn’t care; he just kept his eyes closed and hoped all of this would be over soon. “Let’s get going Sportaflop, we don’t have all day!”

“Robbie, are you scared of heights?” Sportacus asked softly, a playful tone in his voice that made the tall man cheeks turn a rosy red. _Is it that obvious…_

“No!” Robbie said, his voice cracking in a way that made him cringe. “I just know that this ship is a _death trap_ and I don’t want to _die_!”

There was a moment of silence. Robbie hoped that the elf would just drop it and take off – it’s none of his business after all. Once again, he braced for takeoff, and once again it never came. Robbie heard Sportacus’s footsteps coming towards him. The footsteps stopped right in front of him. Robbie slowly opened his eyes to see a sympathetic smile and an outstretched hand, and he froze. Sportacus sighed softly. “The ship won’t hurt you Robbie – I’ll keep you safe, okay? But in order for me to do that, I need you buckled up safe with me in the front. Can you come with me?”

Robbie swallowed hard. He cautiously looked into Sportacus’s eyes to see if there was any sign of trickery, but only saw assurance. A put-out sigh escaped his lips. _Why does he have to be so good at being nice?_ “Fine…”

Sportacus smiled in delight as Robbie accepted his hand and led the two of them back to the front of the airship. Sportacus let go just long enough for him to jump down into the captain’s chair, and he then outstretched his again to help Robbie get down. Robbie looked down at Sportacus with a little hesitation. _Eugh, I didn’t know he meant sitting in the same chair…_

“It’s okay Robbie, I got you.” Sportacus said. Robbie resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he grabbed Sportacus’s hands and let himself be guided down to the chair. He did resist though when Sportacus attempted to buckle him up.

“I’m not a baby – I know how seatbelts work!” Robbie said as he swatted the elf’s hands away. Sportacus sighed as he smiled and shook his head.

“Sorry Robbie, force of habit,” the elf said before turning around and sitting in front of Robbie. He noticed Sportacus pull his goggles over his eyes, and before he could question why, Sportacus pressed a button and suddenly he could feel the wind ruffling his hair.

“Wait, Sportacus, what are you doing-” Robbie was cut off as Sportacus’s chair suddenly turned into its own mini jet and shot up into the sky. A scream escaped Robbie’s lips, and he grabbed Sportacus’s shoulders as the g-force pushed him flat against the back of the captain’s chair. It was like the worlds most evil roller coaster, and Robbie nearly passed out before the craft slowed to a hover above LazyTown. His hair was a mess, and his eyes were wide and for a second he forgot his own name.

“Wasn’t that fun Robbie?” Sportacus asked happily as he turned around to look at Robbie.

“NO IT WASN’T!” Robbie said, glaring at Sportacus as he attempted to fix his now ruined hair. Knowing that it was hopeless, he pouted. “Would it have _killed_ you to warn me?!”

Sportacus tried to pull a serious face, but just couldn’t do it. Robbie blushed as a small chuckle escaped the elf’s lips. “Sorry Robbie.”

_You little shit_. “Aren’t we supposed to be looking for the kids, SportaJerk, or have you forgotten them already?” Robbie said as he crossed his arms.

That seemed to hit a cord, and a frown worked its way onto Sportacus’s face. He turned away from Robbie without a word as he flipped on the mini-jet’s spotlight. There was a long silence as they began to scan the prairie around them.

Robbie wasn’t really searching though. He fixed his eyes on the back of Sportacus’s head. The elf seemed so calm in all of this, though he knew that he _must_ be upset and possibly scared. No matter what he told Ziggy, no one’s scared of nothing. He remembered trying to scare Sportacus out of town that one time, and a soft smile worked its way onto his face. It didn’t stay long though, and he really began to wonder what scared this Elf.

The more he looked at Sportacus, the more he noticed the tenseness in his shoulders that wasn’t normally there, and the way his arms flexed as the elf gripped the steering wheel a bit too hard. He was certainly good at hiding his fear, possibly for the mayor and Bessie’s sake, as well for the kids’ sake… perhaps for his sake too. Robbie started to feel bad for saying what he said. He didn’t want to apologize though – he couldn’t let his nemesis see him show mercy! However, the silence was starting to feel awkward… maybe this thing had a radio or something?

After a while, Sportacus broke the silence with a sigh. “You’re right… I’m sorry.” Sportacus slowly turned around once more to look at Robbie. “I was just… excited that you wanted to help me.”

Robbie’s eyes widened slightly, and he titled his head almost in confusion. Sportacus smiled, reaching behind to pat Robbie on the shoulder. It was strong, yet gentle enough not to hurt the tall man. Robbie thought it was… nice. He shook his head, looking away from Sportacus and down to the prairie below. “I just want to clear my own name in all of this – you saw what the mayor and Bessie were gonna do… I just want to prove that I’m not the bad guy in all of this.”

“Of course Robbie,” Sportacus said, flashing his teeth in a sly smile before turning back around to scan the area again. Robbie reluctantly started searching too, though honestly, he couldn’t see much in this darkness, even with the spotlight on. He squinted, a slight movement catching his eye near a bolder. Before he could point it out to Sportacus though, the flapping wings of an owl rose to the sky.

_Jareth…_ Robbie’s heart rose for a second, though immediately sunk as the bird he saw was clearly not the beautiful white owl from earlier this day. This one was speckled and dull, and he saw what might have been a snake in it’s talons. He stuck his tongue out in disgust. _Jareth wouldn’t eat a snake_ …

He clutched at the pendant under his vest and closed his eyes, and suddenly all the excitement of the missing children dulled. The heart break stabbed at his heart, and he frowned in frustration. _I can’t believe I fell in love with a dream…Yet the pendant is real! I’m holding it in my hand right now! How could I have imagined that?_

“Hey Robbie, I think I see something! I’m gonna drop down and investigate is that okay?” Sportacus said, pulling Robbie out of his trance.

“Wha- Oh, yeah go ahead…” Robbie said, his voice soft and distant. Sportacus turned around for a spilt second, locking eyes with Robbie. They seemed to be looking for confirmation, so Robbie nodded. “I’m good – you can go down.”

The descent was a lot slower than when the rise, and Robbie was thankful of that. Sportacus turned off the engine, though kept the lights on so that they could search. He stretched slightly before flipping out of the jet. Robbie didn’t feel comfortable staying in the contraption alone, so he unbuckled and quickly crawled out of the cockpit. His exit was a lot less graceful though, and he ended up falling on his butt. _I’m gonna be all purple from the bruises by the end of all this I know it._  He got up slowly, whining as he dusted himself off. Then, he slowly turned around to look at Sportacus. The elf was kneeling on the ground, tense and silent and completely ignoring Robbie.

“What is it?” Robbie asked, slowly approaching Sportacus. There was no reply, and Robbie rolled his eyes. He kneeled down and looked over the elf’s shoulder, his brow raised… then his eyes widened. It was Ziggy’s lollipop, covered in ants. Robbie gagged. _Eugh… ever hear about finishing your candy before throwing it away?_  
  
“Do… you know what these tracks are?” Sportacus asked, his voice icy and soft. Robbie looked at the elf’s face, noticing how wide his eyes were… how he was trembling. It set the tall man on edge like nothing ever had before. His eyes fell to the ground, noticing tiny prints in the dirt. They looked to be shoes – tiny, pointed shoe prints, as well as a few handprints here and there. The hand prints had only four fingers, the nails pointed and almost claw-like.

“Am I… supposed to know what they are?” Robbie said, slowly reaching out to touch one of the handprints. They were so small compared to his own hand. Sportacus got up without a word, scanning the area almost frantically. Robbie slowly got up, struggling to keep his balance as he flapped his arms around. He dusted himself off with a huff. “Sportacus, what are they?”

Sportacus was tense, his fists clenched hard enough to turn his knuckles white. Robbie swallowed, reluctantly approaching the elf. He froze when Sportacus stared right at him… the look on his face was so full of fear and panic and it felt _wrong._ “Sportacus… what it is?”

“Goblins.”

“… What?” Robbie said, his voice dropping in confusion. Sportacus turned away, running in the direction the tracks were going. Robbie shrugged, throwing his arms up in confusion before reluctantly following the elf. He wasn’t going to run though; he already hit his physical exercise quota a long time ago.

It took him maybe five minutes to catch up to Sportacus. Robbie could barely see the silhouette of the elf in the moonlight – in fact, he had almost tripped over him. Sportacus was kneeling on the ground, his shoulders slouched, and his head lowered. Robbie looked down at him and sighed. “Sportacus, what is going on?!”

They were in a clearing of some sorts, and Robbie squinted to try and see anything but just couldn’t. As he tried to walk forward, Sportacus outstretched his arm to halt him. Before Robbie could ask another question, Sportacus pressed his chest piece. Robbie jumped as a light shown from it, illuminating the clearing… and then he gasped.

It looked like a large crop circle almost… only it wasn’t a crop circle. It was an infinity symbol of some sort, swirling within a circle formed of rocks and stones. The tracks Sportacus had followed ended right outside of the symbol. Robbie tilted his head in confusion; for some reason, he recognized this symbol. He looked down at Sportacus, frowning at the look on the elf’s face.

Sportacus was catatonic, his eyes looking straight ahead as if in a daze. Robbie groaned out of frustration and stress and plopped to the ground beside the elf. They sat like that for a while, just staring at the circle not saying a word. Robbie rocked back and forth slowly, occasionally looking over at Sportacus in confusion.

His mind started to drift, and thoughts of Jareth started to resurface. He thought of the dance they shared and the cake that he had and the way that his heart fluttered as they were about to kiss… he wished he never woke up from that dream… he wished that maybe someday he’d see his beautiful owl man again.

He clutched at the pendant under his vest sadly, tracing the symbol on it’s front slowly and sadly. Then it hit him, and his heart pounded in excitement as he pulled the pendant out. His eyes glanced back and force between the symbol on the ground and the symbol on the pendant; they were the same. This had to prove something – this had to prove that his beloved Jareth was _real_!!

A hand reached out in front of him, snatching the pendant from Robbie’s hand. Robbie gasped, looking over at the now very conscious Sportacus – the very conscious and _mad_ Sportacus. The elf held the pendant in his trembling hand his eyes wide and teeth bared as he looked down at it. Robbie glared at Sportacus, crawling over the sports elf to try and get his necklace back. Sportacus held Robbie back, easily defending himself despite Robbie’s best efforts. The tall man growled. “It’s mine! Give it back it belongs to _me_!”

Sportacus stood up, causing Robbie to fall flat on his face in the dirt. Robbie glared up as Sportacus stood above him – not caring how the elf glared at him; not caring how he shook and tears rolled down his usually happy face. “Give. It. Back!”

“Robbie,” Sportacus said in a voice as cold as ice. His eyes closed, and as he threw the pendant to the ground he whispered, “What have you _done_?”


	4. The Goblin King

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAA I'M SO SORRRY EVERYONE!!!!!!!!
> 
> THIS IS SO LATE, AND I REALLY DON'T HAVE MUCH OF AN EXCUSE FOR IT!!! Please forgive me!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> lsdkjflsdjflsdjlj anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter everyone. This installment is taking a little break from the bois to get a glimpse at what the kids are experiencing, but they will be back next chapter.
> 
> Before we begin, i'd like to kind of make a few statements just regarding the 'lore' or whatnot for this fic. I'm writing this piece with the concept in mind that Lazytown and the Labyrinth all exist within the same universe, so this isn't a "suddenly we exist together" type thing - and because of that, I will be taking a few liberties with my writing to explain how they tie together (especially when we get to parts that concern background for a few of our important characters) So like... I just wanna say that I hope what I have planned isn't too ridiculous. I'm taking most of my "information" regarding already established lore from LazyTown and Labyrinth (Lemme just say, I watched "Magic Dance" at least 5 times while writing /just/ this chapter X'D) right from source material and expanded content. Since the movie Labyrinth doesn't have much explanation within the movie itself for some things, i'm also taking a lot of lore from the novelization, the manga "Sequel" (its not canon, and unfortunately I DONT recommend it :/), and the concept art book "The Goblins of Labyrinth" 
> 
> Just wanted to state that, because as this fic progresses the ties between LazyTown and the Labyrinth will be explained and I just want to prepare you all X'D
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy this LONG overdue chapter, and once again THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE COMMENTS AND KUDOS THEY REALLY MEAN A LOT TO ME!

“Let _go_ of us!” Stephanie cried, thrashing against her captor’s grips as hard as she could. The monsters that carried them were strong despite how small they were; they held strong as they carried her and the children through vast corridors of brick walls – it felt like they had been traveling for hours. She was so tired and scared, but she couldn’t give up fighting; if Sportacus had taught her anything, it was to never give up!

Trixie had put up a good fight for a while along side her, but now she had resorted to halfheartedly barking words at the little creatures that Sportacus would not approve of. Ziggy had been sobbing the entire time, and Pixel and Stingy were just silently trembling. Stephanie didn’t blame them though – all she wanted was to go home to her uncle.

It had happened so quickly. One second she was watching Robbie march away, then the next small stinky hands were on her whisking her and her friends out of town. She didn’t even have time to call out to for help before they were already out of town. These things, whatever they were, were fast. Once they were out in the prairie there had been a flash of light and a bird and then they were far away from LazyTown.

Stephanie thought the place looked far too magical to be real. She knew that there were such things as trolls and elves and creatures like that from stories, and magic had places in some parts of the earth but _this_? This was crossing a line that even her imagination couldn’t keep up with.

They entered through a large gate into a town square of some sorts. There were fountains and tiny houses, and hundreds more of the creatures that were carrying them hustled about around them. There were creatures herding chickens and selling what Stephanie’s nose told her was rotten cabbage and fish. Some of the creatures looked like they were children – but she couldn’t really tell because they all were all so different from each other not just in size. Then, as if a switch was flipped, they all stopped what they were doing to turn and look at them. Curiosity filled their beady red eyes, and soon all of them were following them close behind. As Stephanie looked around, she noticed a castle in the distance, and they were heading _right_ for it.

_Perhaps there’s a nice princess that lives there who will help us, or a noble knight who will free us!_ Stephanie hoped, though part of her felt like whoever lived there was behind their abduction. She frowned. _I hope they at least don’t hurt us…_

Once they reached the castle, they were led through another set of doors and up a flight of stairs. The sounds of the creatures laughing filled Stephanie’s ears and made her tremble; they were not kind laughs. The laughter was loudest as they reached a circular room at the top of the stairs. The creatures filled the room, and it looked the Stephanie like a party of some sorts. With a loud huff, the creatures threw her and the other kids into this small pit right in the middle of the chamber. Stephanie let out a startled cry as a chicken flapped its wings and scampered to get out of the pit.

She sighed nervously and looked to her friends. They were all trembling, huddled together with wide eyes glancing at the room and creatures around them. Stephanie crawled over to join them, reaching out for Trixie’s hand; she needed something to hold. Trixie’s grip made her wince but she wasn’t about to let go now.

Stephanie’s eyes fell on a throne of some sorts in front of them. It was empty she noticed, and she trembled at the thought of what creature would rule over these monsters. _They’re probably scary, with big fangs and claws…_

“Stephanie… I’m scared,” Trixie whispered, causing Stephanie to turn and look at her. Trixie’s eyes were wide and brimming with tears, and Stephanie squeezed her hand in a reassuring gesture.

“It’s okay, Sportacus will save us Trixie – I know it!” Stephanie forced a smile, though she knew it most likely looked fake. _I won’t have to fake a smile for too long though_ she thought. _At least I hope so… Sportacus, where are you?!_

“My lollipop…” The youngest of them said. Ziggy wiped his eyes as he lowered his head, sniffling softly. Stingy _audibly_ rolled his eyes, turning to Ziggy with a frown.

“There’s a little thing called _priorities_ Ziggy – I think you should reevaluate _yours,_ since right now, in case you haven’t noticed, we’re _being held hostage_!” Stingy said. Stephanie sent him a sharp frown, and he crossed his arms and pouted quietly.

“Guys, we got to stay brave – just think what Sportacus would do,” Stephanie said. Pixel shook his head, taping away at his arm gadgets sadly.

“I’ve been trying to get ahold of Ms. Busybody’s cell phone with my digipad, but there’s no reception here at all… Not even my GPS is working! I have no idea where we are, so I guess… lets just hope Sportacus somehow knows.”

“Yeah…” Stephanie said. She reached out, slowly grabbing Pixels hand with a soft smile. “We just have to stick together until he finds us.”

Pixel blushed, looking down with a faint smile. “M-maybe I can configure my digipad to give off a homing signal – Perhaps that’ll help Sportacus find us.”

“Great thinking Pixel!” Stephanie said, to which Pixel responded with a shaky, somewhat elated chuckle as he started clicking away at his gadgets. Trixie muttered beside her softly, saying something that might have been ‘lover boy’, but Stephanie wasn’t too sure.

Around them, the creatures started to quiet, sending waves of hushes between themselves. The children looked around the room in confusion, then to each other for reassurance. Stephanie swallowed the lump in her throat as she heard distant footsteps. _I have a bad feeling about this_ …

Then, at the top of a nearby staircase, a figure emerged. The person, or thing, had human looking legs dressed in knee-high boots. For a moment Stephanie thought it to be a woman from how lithe they appeared to be. However, as they descended the stairs and she saw their grey pantaloons and vested torso she ultimately decided it was a man – though his hair was wild enough to rival that of Ms. Busybody.

He paused at the bottom of the stairs, and all the goblins in the room parted to make a path to the throne. As he confidently strode towards his chair his eyes never left hers, a smirk on his face that looked almost amused, but Stephanie thought it to be far too condescending for her liking. The man sat in his seat, his legs strewn over on side as he lounged. Stephanie studied his face; he certainly didn’t look all that scary.

After a moment, a single monster approached the man. It bowed lowly, their long, pointed nose pressing against the stone floor. Then it raised, straightening its dirty tunic with the back of its hands. “Your Highness, we have brought the children as directed.”

“Yes, I can see that,” the man said, narrowing his eyes at the creature. His voice made Stephanie shudder. His voice was smooth and strong yet had an ice behind his words that she would never forget. The creature stood there silently for a moment before awkwardly mingling back amongst the other monsters. Stephanie looked at her friends, growing confused as they all shrugged. There was a moment of silence that was only broken by the distressed squawking of the poor chicken Stephanie almost crushed earlier. Then with a small sigh the man stood, slowly walking towards the children.

Stephanie narrowed her eyes at the man. He seemed a bit restless, first sitting now standing, though he couldn’t imagine that _they_ were putting him on edge. His eyes then met hers for a slight moment, and she _knew_ that he had no fear of her. The corners of his mouth quirked in a small smile as he crouched down to their level. She froze, swallowing hard.

He sighed, a soft sound that seemed to cut the tension at least a little. “Hello,” He said, “Welcome to my Labyrinth… you must be Ziggy, Trixie, Stingy, Pixel…” his eyes locked with Stephanie, and she felt a cold icy feeling creep up her spine; his smile made it even worse. “… And brave little Stephanie.”

“How do you know our names?” Trixie asked, a boldness in her voice that made Stephanie worried. The last thing she wanted was her friends being thrown in a dungeon… The king seemed amused enough though to overlook her tone, and he simply looked to her and laughed.

“I’m a king – I know everything,” he said.

“The Goblin King!” A creature from somewhere in the crowd shouted. A few more voices joined it as they chanted, “Jareth the Goblin King!”

The king raised his hand, and the creatures stopped. Stephanie frowned, her jaw stiffening in defiance as anger rose within her. She didn’t care if he was the king of the world! “Why have you kidnapped us? We want to go home!”

The other children hesitantly chorused with her, which made Jareth’s smirk waver. He recovered quickly though, raising his brow. “Kidnapped?” he said, “I think that’s a rather… strong word, don’t you think?”

“Well, what would _you_ call taking us against our _will_ ” Stingy said, his voice trembling a bit, though Stephanie sensed him getting angrier too. Jareth tutted at him softly, and Stingy looked down in fear.

“I’d call it ‘nothing personal’” Jareth said, his voice softening enough to make Stingy look back up, “It wasn’t exactly _my_ idea to bring you all here, and I do apologize that this all happened so… abruptly.”

Stephanie frowned and shook her head. “What do you-”

“Please, allow me to explain,” Jareth said, cutting her off with a wave of his hand. “I can do so much quicker if you stopped asking questions.”

_Rude_ , she thought but knew better than to say. She crossed her arms, and he rose to move towards his throne. “You see,” he began, sitting down slowly. “I am the Goblin King, and because I’m a king, I have certain… Responsibilities.”

He paused, looking at Stephanie as if expecting an interruption. It didn’t come, and a pleased smile warmed his face. “I rule the Goblins and the labyrinth as its master and its protector… but I also need to provide this service for one other thing: you.”

Stephanie opened her mouth but stopped before she could ask another question. _Us? What does he mean us?_ He continued. “Whenever time allows me to, I venture into your realm in search of… how do I put this without it sounding alarming?” He had a tone to his voice that could be interpreted as concern, though Stephanie wasn’t sure if it was sincere. “Well, I’ll just go ahead and say it… unwanted children.”

Her friends gasped, a heartbreaking despair to their voices that made Stephanie ache. She stood to her feet. “What are you saying?” Stephanie said, this time not caring it she was interrupting. “We’re wanted! My uncle, and Miss Busybody wants us, and _Sportacus_ wants us too!”

There was a bit of whispered chorus amongst the Goblins, and a look washed over Jareth’s face that she couldn’t read. “Be quiet!” He commanded, but not to her. The goblins froze in fear of their king, their whispers dying on their lips faster than they had started. Stephanie looked around at the Goblins, noticing their eyes flit away from hers as their gazes met. Jareth stood again from his throne, his eyes tired and his smile from before now clearly forced as he focused his attention on the children. “Perhaps they do want you,” he said. “No one is _completely_ unwanted, but when someone wishes hard enough for a child to _disappear_ , its hard to ignore their plea.”

Stephanie looked down in thought. _Someone wanted us gone??_ She bit her lip in confusion. “But… who would have wanted us gone so-”

“ _Robbie Rotten!_ ” Trixie whispered beside her. “ _He_ wished us away!”

Stephanie gasped as she remembered Robbie’s hurt words from earlier. _I wish those brats would just disappear_ … “Robbie…” Stephanie couldn’t hide the hurt in her voice. “But he’s a villain! He’s bad, you shouldn’t have listened to him!”

Jareth frowned, a look on his face that felt sour to her.  “Leave it to a child to simplify a person into a ‘villain’ like he’s _nothing_. Despicable – and I assume you think that elf is a perfect hero, am I correct?”

_Elf?_ Stephanie shook her head, confused and hurt and _angry_. “Robbie Rotten has tried to hurt me and my friends so many times! It isn’t _childish_ for me to think of him as nothing but a villain! And you… you should _not_ have listened to his wish! _Take. Us. Home!_ ”

“That is not how this works, _child_.” Jareth said, his voice growing impatient. “I _take_ children, I don’t _return_ them. I’m afraid that unless someone comes to collect you, you will be staying here for quite some time.”

Stingy let out a distressed whimper. “For how long exactly?”

Jareth paused. “… Forever.”

The children snapped, each one breaking down in their own way. Stephanie watched her friends panic, and immediately reached out to try and help. “Guys, we’ll be okay!” She said, but they wouldn’t listen. “Guys please, we _will_ be rescued and we’ll all go home!”

“… I really do sympathize with you,” Jareth said, his voice soft and slow. She watched him approach out of the corner of her eye but didn’t turn to acknowledge him. He continued with a sigh, crouching down to her level once more. “Like I said, it’s nothing personal, it’s just my job. Believe me when I say that I’ll try to make this whole ordeal as good for all of you as I can.”

“You could never make this _good_ ,” She said, turning to find his face meeting hers. Defiance rose inside of her, and she smiled. “Sportacus will find us, and you will be _sorry_!”

There was something that flickered deep within his strange eyes. He paused for a moment before returning with a soft laugh. The laugh chorused hesitantly throughout the goblin crowd, and Jareth smiled. “… Then you should have nothing to worry about. Consider your stay here just a… vacation.”

“Yeah, because being kept prisoner is my idea of a vacation,” Stephanie muttered. “Thank you _so_ much.”

If he was insulted by her sass, he chose to ignore it, yet his eyes showed a slyness she didn’t appreciate as she said those words. “Prisoner?” he said with a laugh, “I’d prefer to keep you here as guests… but if you’d like to be treated as prisoners then I can arrange that.”

The children all shouted in fear. “Stop being rude to the man!” Stingy said, grabbing Stephanie’s arm. “I’m too important to be a prisoner!”

“You should listen to your friend Stephanie,” Jareth said. “Like I said, if you choose to work with me, this might turn out to be a pleasant experience for us all.”

Stephanie looked to her friends, and the pleading in their eyes was enough to break her. She hated this Jareth, and she didn’t trust him one bit; she couldn’t pretend otherwise… but if it meant keeping her friends safe, she’d yield. _For now…_ “I’m sorry…”

Jareth seemed pleased by that. “So, you’d like to be my guest?”

_Like I have a choice…_ “Yes.”

He clapped his hands at his goblins, and they all stood to attention. As soon as their king pointed his finger, they went scurrying. Soon rugs were being laid out around the room and trays were being brought in from different rooms. Ziggy’s eyes lit up as a tray of what looked to be candy was carried by, and Stephanie narrowed her eyes. _What’s… going on?_

Jareth turned his back to the children for a moment, and when he returned he had 5 clear orbs in his hands. Before anyone could say a word, be began to juggle them between his fingers. It was like they were floating above his hands and flying. Stingy was practically trembling as he watched the act. She knew it was about 3 seconds before he started screaming ‘mine’.

Stephanie had to admit, it _was_ impressive. As much as she wanted to go sit in a corner and wait for Sportacus… she felt herself being drawn in by the act. Her eyes focused on one of them, and for a second, she thought she saw something. She shook her head, only for the image to still be there. As she leaned in closer, the image became more and more prominent; then, she froze.

_Mom, Dad…_

She forced herself to look away, her eyes wide as she brought her hand to her mouth. _That… that couldn’t have been real._ Jareth’s eyes were on her, she could feel it but she didn’t dare turn back around. A tear formed at the corners of her eye as a shaky sigh escaped her lips.

“My crystals show dreams,” Jareth said, “Sometimes memories to those who are lucky… Would you like it?”

For a second, she thought he was talking to her. However, Stingy’s not so polite ‘yes, give it to me!’ broke that impression. She sighed. _Oh Stingy…_ Stephanie turned around, her eyes fleeting between Stingy and Jareth in confusion. This time he didn’t meet her gaze though, which she was thankful for. She studied his face for longer than was probably polite, but she didn’t care; then, just like that he _wasn’t_ there.

Sportacus would know exactly what to do in this situation, and she tried to think like him; what _would_ he do? Would he try to learn his adversaries’ game, so he would beat them at it himself? That rose the question as to _what_ game Jareth was playing. Her eyes looked about the room, and she frowned when she saw Ziggy already helping himself to a tray of taffy candies. Then, Trixie ran by with a goblin’s helmet on her head as said goblin chased her around; she was laughing. Just a moment ago she was scared out of her mind right next to her! When had she gotten up? Stingy was focused on his new crystal ball as expected. Pixel was… where was pixel? She looked around frantically until she spotted him in a corner. Jareth was with him. He whispered something in his ear, and pixel nodded very enthusiastically.

“Are you not having fun?” Jareth’s voice was suddenly right behind her. She jumped, turning around wide eyed to look into his playful eyes.

“What did you do to me?” She said, her voice barely a whisper as she found it hard to speak. “What’s…” Jareth held up a crystal and smiled at her softly as the image from before appeared within it. She slammed her eyes shut and scowled. “I don’t want to see that!”

“You miss them very much, don’t you?” He said, and she found her eyes opening against her will. She could see them as clear as day within that small ball; they were _waving_ at her. Her hand reached out slowly, the tip of her finger just barely brushing the glass barrier. “You were supposed to just be staying the summer in LazyTown, weren’t you? Yet… their ‘business’ trip is taking much longer than expected…”

Stephanie nodded, not taking her eyes away from the ball. She _wanted_ to look away, or at least she knew she should look away… “W-why are you doing this?”

“I said you were my guest, Stephanie,” He said as he placed the ball in the palm of her hand. “I treat all my guests well…” A small sigh escaped his lips, and she found the will to look away from her parents to him. He had a look of pain in his eyes that she didn’t doubt was genuine. She could have sworn he was sweating, though it could have just been the light. For a moment, he seemed almost ordinary – plain. It almost felt like she was talking to her uncle… he seemed so sad. She questioned what set her off about him, yet deep inside she tried to stay strong. _Don’t let him fool you… he’s supposed to be bad!_

_… Right?_ Jareth looked right at her, right into her mind in a way that would have frightened her if she didn’t feel _so weird_ … “I… I know you don’t trust me, like you don’t trust that Robbie Rotten. I don’t blame you…”

He broke off what he was saying. Stephanie blinked, feeling a swift feeling of dullness that made everything in the room seem irregular in a way that she _knew_ wasn’t right. Jareth was now across the room speaking to a taller looking goblin. She couldn’t hear what they were saying… Jareth smiled. He turned to her and waved, a smirk on his lips.

_Something’s wrong… snap out of it_!

Jareth was gone. She looked about the room languidly, just turning her head making her feel like she was on a roller coaster. He wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

“Stephanie…” a small voice said. Her eyes drifted down to the palm of her hand. It was her mother, her soft smile as warm as she remembered it to be. “We’re so sorry…. we’ve missed you so much Stephanie.”

She knew she was crying, but she didn’t care. A soft smile warmed her face as she cradled the ball close to her chest. “I’ve missed you too…”

 -----------

“Are they at the circle now?” Jareth asked, making his way down a flight of steps towards the courtyards. A goblin sprinted after him, it’s tiny legs struggling to meet the King’s graceful strides.

“Y-yes your highness,” it wheezed out, “They’ll be right there waiting for your arrival.”

“Good,” Jareth said, sighing as he draped his cloak around his shoulders. He reached the bottom of the stairs and paused to steady himself. The goblin ran into his legs, not expecting the sudden halt; it looked up at him with wide eyes.

“M-my lord, I greatly apologize! Please, forgive my foolishness, I-”

He stopped listening and closed his eyes. This goblin had a name, though he couldn’t remember it at the top of his head… if he had remembered it, he would have commanded the creature by name to be quiet. He opened his eyes, looking down at the thing still stumbling over an apology. _I should have taught them to hold their tongues more._ “Will the magic hold?” He said, his expression unchanging as the goblin froze in fear.

“… sir?”

“The magic, damn it, will it hold?!” He reached for the stair banister, clenching it hard as he gritted his teeth at the creature. “Will it be enough while I’m away?”

The creature nodded frantically, bowing low to the ground. “Yes, your highness! We will make sure of it!”

Jareth sighed as he looked back towards his throne room. He frowned softly. “Make sure the children are entertained… shouldn’t be a problem even for you… Keep an eye on the pink one.”

“She’s strong…” the Goblin muttered. Jareth froze, clasping the banister hard enough for it to crack a bit. The goblin yelped, taking a few strides back away from Jareth. “B-but not strong enough! She’s weak compared to a great king like you!”

Jareth looked at the banister quietly, the tiny cracks spreading out from his hand like a web of spider silk. He closed his eyes again. “I know she’s strong, so _keep an eye out for her_ …”

He let go of the banister, his eyes widening slightly as he looked at his hand. _I could have used less with the children…_ He shoved his hand into his glove with a scowl.

The goblin opened its mouth, a nervous whine escaping as the creature watched its master. Its eyes flitted between the banister and Jareth. Jareth closed his eyes and grimaced, waiting for the inevitable follow up. “Sir…”

“Don’t. _Ask._ ” Jareth said, glaring down at the goblin. “You all ask me every single day, and every single day the answer is the same. I’m sick of hearing your _concerns_.”

The goblin exhaled heavily as it looked down at its muddy boots. “Y-yes sir… I’m sorry sir.”

Jareth sighed. “Prepare a room while I’m gone – the finest guest room we have, and make _sure_ it’s clean and the bed made.”  
  
“Will this be for the Rotten man?” the goblin asked, writing Jareth’s instructions down on a small notepad. Jareth rolled his eyes.  
  
“No, it’s for _you_ ,” he said. The goblin looked up at Jareth in confusion, a little glimmer in it’s eyes that made Jareth want to bash his head against the wall. “ _Yes_ , it’s for Mr. Rotten you fool!”

The Goblin looked down with an embarrassed blush. “R-right, my lord… errr…”

“What _is_ it?” Jareth said. _Let me leave already, you idiot!_

The goblin looked up hesitantly, swallowing hard. It clutched the notepad in front of it like a shield, and it spoke in an anxious whine, “Are we… to bow to him like a prince?”

Jareth paused, a small smile worked its way onto his face as he pondered. _For once, a decent question…_ “Yes,” he decided after a moment, striding towards the courtyard. “Treat him like a prince- no, better, treat him like a king!”  
  
He smiled at the Goblin, a move that seemed to unnerve the creature more than anything. Jareth laughed softly, thinking to himself. _Prince… has a nice ring to it._ He transformed himself, taking on the shape of an owl as he flew up into the sky. He soared as high as he could, then closed his eyes as he free-fell towards the ground. As he felt the veil between the worlds shift, he couldn’t help but feel an excitement within him that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

… _My prince._


	5. The Quest Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, i'm really proud for getting this next chapter out so quick! :D It's a shorter chapter than some of the last, but I still feel good about it.
> 
> We're back with the boys now, and it's time to get the journey finally started! Thank you all for the kudos and comments last chapter - i'm really excited to write this fic thanks to all the love and support I have been getting. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter everyone! <3

Sportacus towered over Robbie, looking down with tears streaming from his eyes. His lip trembled, and his shallow breaths barely containing his anguish; the look of betrayal on his face was blinding. “H-How could you do this?!” Sportacus said, his voice coming out as barely a whisper, yet holding as much weight as a scream. He shook his head at Robbie, his fists clenching and unclenching. “I trusted you – we _all_ trusted you!”

Robbie didn’t know what to say. He wanted to shout at the elf, to try and explain himself; or at the very least try to get him to _stop crying_ . It looked so _wrong_ on his face, it was like he was an entirely new person from Mr. Brightside. _First Milford and now_ him. _What did I do to deserve this torment god?_

Sportacus paced, starting towards the ship as if to leave, but them turning back repeatedly to the same spot to _stare_ at him. Robbie just sat there, clutching his pendant close – feeling guilty yet not sure what he needed to feel guilty _for_ . Certainly… it wasn’t _his_ fault that the kids were gone, right?

Yet the look in Sportacus’s eyes… _God, I’m so confused!_

He swallowed slowly, then let out a shaky sigh. “I’m… sorry…” he said, knowing it sounded insincere as soon as it left his mouth. This only served to make Sportacus even more unhinged, and he let out a frustrated groan.

“I never thought that you’d go this far,” He said, lowering his head and turning away slightly. His eyes closed with a sigh. “… to _hand them over_ to a monster like _him_!”

This was enough to build Robbie’s courage to fight back. All the times the elf had kicked his butt during his schemes came to a head, and he felt like he was going to explode. “Now wait just a minute!” he said, standing up swiftly as he strode over to Sportacus. He stopped once they were face to face, and he scowled down at the blue elf. “You don’t get to just make _accusations_ at me, Mr. Flip and Slide! I’ll have you know-”

“Have me know what?” Sportacus said, standing on his tippy toes to meet Robbie’s gaze. _God what a dork!_ Robbie thought as a cold smile worked its way onto his face.

He pointed his finger at Sportacus’s chest, poking hard. “I’ll have you know that I have no idea what’s going on or what the heck you’ve been shouting at me about for the last ten minutes.”

Sportacus paused, blinking slowly as if processing a complex math equation. Then he frowned, his brow creasing as he stared at Robbie. “ _Bullshit_!” He said. “Don’t you dare lie about this!”

Now it was Robbie’s turn to pause. _Did he just…_ “You just cussed,” he said.

“I’m _angry_ Robbie!” Sportacus said. He let out an exasperated groan, finally walking away towards his airship. Robbie followed suit.

“Look pal,” Robbie said, scowling as Sportacus turned around with a roll of his eyes. “If you’re gonna be _so angry_ at me, then you can at least explain to me why because, like I just tried to explain to you, I have _no_ idea what’s going on!”

Sportacus grabbed at the pendant faster than Robbie could react, and he held it up for both to see. “So you’re telling me you don’t know what this is?”

“Yes!” Robbie said, throwing up his hands. “I don’t know! Some owl just _gave_ it to me earlier today!” He paused, a small blush coming to his cheek as he looked down slowly… _Well, like I guess it wasn’t a real owl…_

“You swear?” Sportacus said.

“ _Yes!_ ” Robbie said. Sportacus seemed to calm down a bit as he listened to Robbie. He looked at the pendant, then back to Robbie slowly.

“… When exactly did the owl give this to you?” he asked.

Robbie thought for a moment, cocking his head to the side. “Well, I was walking home today from the store, and I sat down on the bench… you came over to bug me… the owl was in the tree, then it was on my shoulder, then it gave me the pendant.” Robbie then scowled. “After that, I got hit in the head with a soccer ball-”

Sportacus put his head in his hands, and Robbie paused. “Then you ‘wished’ them away…” The elf ran his hands down his face slowly in frustration, and he looked at him sadly. “Did it do anything else? Did you see it any other time?”

The blush returned to Robbie’s cheeks. He didn’t want to tell Sportacus about _everything_ … “Um… well, I think I saw it in my dream. It looked different though.”

“How different?” Sportacus asked.

“Well, it wasn’t an owl anymore,” Robbie said, looking down. He knew he was drawing this out longer than it needed to go; he felt Sportacus’s eyes on him. _Please just stop asking questions, please!_

“Robbie, please,” Sportacus’s voice had softened now, all the frustration and anger from before masked by gentleness he usually reserved for the children. He sighed as he placed his hand on Robbie’s shoulder. “What happened? I need to know, or things might get much worse.”

“We _danced_ , okay?!” Robbie said, his face turning bright red. “We danced, and he was nice to me, and he…” _He almost kissed me_. “Then I woke up and you were there!”

Robbie couldn’t bring himself to look at the elf. He knew the elf was staring, probably open mouthed at the notion that anyone would want to dance with Robbie Rotten. _If he laughs…_

“He _seduced_ you?” Sportacus said, not directing the question at Robbie. It was more of a confused statement, and Robbie snorted in alarm.

“W-what?!” he was bright red, his voice cracking. “He didn’t- no we didn’t! And it’s not like that’s any of your business-”

“I didn’t mean it like _that_ ,” Sportacus said with a sigh. He turned Robbie slowly so that they were face to face. There was so much pain in the elf’s eyes. Robbie was glad that he wasn’t _angry_ anymore, and the tears from before were only just streaks down his youthful face. It was haunting to stare at him; it felt like something cursed. Those bright blue eyes held a dull, aching darkness that Robbie never thought he’d see – never thought would _hurt_ to see in his enemy. “Robbie, please, you have to listen to me – The Goblin King is _not_ someone you should trust. He’s a monster and a kidnapper! Whatever he’s done to the children… whatever he’s done to _you_ , you must believe that his motives aren’t good!”

“Is love not enough?” A voice said from afar. Both turned as a being appeared within the circle. He was engulfed in a beam of light, and as the light faded into the night, a familiar face to both of them smiled.

“Jareth!” Robbie said with racing heart, warmth racing throughout his body. _My love!_

“ _You_ …” Sportacus practically spat the words. He got into a fighting stance, getting between Robbie and Jareth; his face furrowed in rage, a move that made the Goblin King laugh.

“Oh please. I’m not here to fight you, _elf_ ,” he said, suddenly appearing behind Robbie. Sportacus turned on his heel, eyes wide as he tried to lunge… yet collapsed to the ground.

“Sportacus…” Robbie said, his voice barely a whisper as he watched the elf begin to shake frantically. Sportacus raised his head at the sound of Robbie’s voice, and Robbie gasped. He looked so… weak. “What did you do?”

Jareth frowned, his face growing concerned. “Does that frighten you, my love?” he asked, reaching out to caress Robbie’s face. Sparks flew throughout Robbie’s body at the touch, and he closed his eyes softly. _Even better than in the dream._ He opened his eyes to the mismatched ones of the Goblin King.

Sportacus clutched at Robbie’s pant leg, causing Robbie to turn away from Jareth. The elf was looking up with wide, pleading eyes as he _tried_ to say something. It was like all the strength has been drained right from the elf... Robbie turned back to Jareth. “… do you have to do that?”

Jareth looked down at Sportacus with narrowed eyes, and after a moment the elf gasped as a little strength seemed to return to him… though not enough. The Goblin King’s brow furrowed, his eyes growing distant for a moment. It passed soon though, and before Robbie could even say please, Jareth wrapped his arms around him. “I missed you, my love,” he said, placing a tender kiss on Robbie’s cheek.

Sportacus wheezed as he grabbed the Goblin King’s cloak. “I… challenge you,” he said, but Jareth just snorted as he shook the elf’s hand off and took a few steps back, just out of Sportacus’s reach. Sportacus tried to crawl but found that he couldn’t; his legs were trembling.

Jareth chuckled. “Challenge me? You’re in no position to do anything of the sort,” he said with a raised brow. Jareth let go of Robbie, much to his displeasure, and walked over slowly. He plucked the pendant out from Sportacus’s hand; Robbie noticed it almost looked to be _glowing_. Jareth smiled. “…You have no power now.”

Sportacus looked at the Goblin King opened mouth, terror in his eyes as Jareth turned his back on him. “B-bastard…”

Robbie glanced at Sportacus, wide eyed. _Jareth defeated him without even lifting a finger…_ Sportacus turned to gaze at Robbie, his eyes lingering on Robbie’s for much longer than what Robbie felt necessary. He was so frightening to look at now; it was so wrong. Robbie looked down. _Please… don’t look at me with those eyes… don’t make me_ care _about you._

“Robbie… please, you must challenge him!” Sportacus said. “The children… you have no idea what he’ll do to them!”

“Don’t listen to him darling,” Jareth said, sauntering back over to Robbie. He wasted no time in pulling Robbie back into his arms. It felt so good to be in Jareth’s arms… yet Robbie couldn’t help but stare instead at the elf. Jareth frowned slightly, cupping Robbie’s face with his hands. “He’s weak, just begging for his life now. Don’t let his cries for mercy bother you.”

“His _life?_ ” Robbie said, his eyes widening as he looked over at Sportacus. Jareth moved slightly, obstructing Robbie’s view of the elf.

“Robbie… this is what you’ve always wanted, right?” He asked, “To win? To get rid of him and to bring you peace once more?” Jareth moved, gesturing to Sportacus. The elf glared at Jareth, a look so fierce it made Robbie tremble. Jareth felt this and tightened his grip on him just slightly; so reassuringly. “I’ve helped bring this to you, my love – he can’t disrupt your life ever again... you just have to say the word.”

Robbie looked at Jareth, getting lost in his eyes as he tried to process the words. _Does he… mean to_ kill _him?_ Jareth held the pendant in his hands for Robbie to see, clutching it hard. Robbie watched how it glowed, a light blue pulse of light… like a little heartbeat.

_He’s really offering to kill Sportacus!_

His eyes fell on Sportacus, and he watched the way his arch nemesis trembled before him. He had dreamed of the day that he’d finally win, and that Sportacus would be gone forever… this was never what he had pictured though. Sportacus had given up, his eyes no longer searching for his to plead; he lowered his head almost peacefully as he waited… waited for the death that he believed Robbie was going to bring him. Normally Robbie would be insulted that the elf would assume so little of him, but now wasn’t one of those times. All he felt was guilt, and he sympathized with him.

He should have never said those things to the kids; He should have never given Jareth reason to do that for him – if he had just _thought_ for once, he could be at home still dreaming of Jareth and they could have lived happily ever after without any of this… without Sportacus.

As much as he despised the elf, he never once wished him dead.

“No,” he said, turning to Jareth slowly. He felt Sportacus staring at him, and he didn’t even need to turn his head to know the elf was probably donning a look of surprise. The eyes of the Goblin King widened slightly, a slight look of confusion and pain forming on his face. Robbie stuttered. _Did that upset him? I don’t want him to be hurt either!_  “He’s… suffered enough,” Robbie said, trying to recover the situation.

Jareth hummed, nodding slowly in agreement – though Robbie doubted that he was pleased by this decision judging by the frown on his face. “You’re so merciful, my love.”

He dropped the pendant to the ground, and the glow from inside of it immediately discharged back to Sportacus. The elf took deep, desperate breaths as he got to his knees. “Robbie…”

“The real reason I came to you wasn’t to dispatch of the elf, my love,” Jareth said, slowly clasping Robbie’s hands within his own. “I came here for you… I meant it when I asked for you to stay with me.”

Robbie’s heart fluttered with excitement, his face turning red. He looked down in embarrassment only for Jareth to gently lift his chin to gaze into his eyes. _Please, kiss me like you were about to at the dance, you big dream of a man!_

Jareth started to lean in, and Robbie’s heart was beating so fast he thought it would stop. Their lips were almost touching, and Jareth’s voice barely a whisper, “Stay with me-”

He was interrupted by Sportacus’s fist nearly colliding with his face. Robbie stumbled back in shock, falling flat on his ass. _Ow!_ He thought, though he didn’t have long to dwell on the pain; he never thought he’d live to see the day that Sportacus willingly _attacked_ someone.

“I challenge you!” Sportacus said, his voice loud and cold and _pissed_. Jareth was roughly 10 feet away from the elf, having vanished and reappeared in the circle. He brushed off his cloak, a slightly nervous smile on his face.

“You have no right to challenge me,” he said, a smugness in his voice that made Sportacus’s frown deepen; he let out an unamused laugh.

“You’re just afraid to accept my challenge,” He said, returning the smugness right back. Jareth frowned, dropping his chivalry as an icy cold frown marred his face.

“That’s rich, coming from you of all people.”

Robbie watched them banter back and forth, feeling confused and anxious and _not knowing what to do_ . He wanted Jareth so bad… he was everything he had always wanted. At the same time though his damn _morals_ were getting in the way; he didn’t even know he _had_ morals before this moment! It was wrong of Jareth to take the children, though Robbie now knew he only did it because he had said he wanted them gone…

“Jareth,” Robbie stuttered out, causing both him and Sportacus to pause and turn to stare at him. He cleared his throat, looking down nervously. “… you took the children because of me.”

Jareth nodded slowly, his face still and his emotions concealed. “I did that for you, my love…”

Robbie met his eyes and bit his lip. “… can’t you bring them back?”

Something broke inside of Jareth, his eyes filling with something that Robbie could only describe as sad disappointment. Robbie felt like he had just ripped Jareth’s heart out of his chest himself. It hurt like hell, and he immediately regretted asking. A small sigh escaped the Goblin King’s mouth. “… What’s said is said. I cannot bring the children back.”

“But you can challenge him, Robbie,” Sportacus said, his voice soft and pleading as he took a few steps towards him. “Please, it’s the only way!”

“Silence, elf!” Jareth said, his voice an irritated hiss. “Do not turn his will against mine!”

“Robbie,” Sportacus said, ignoring Jareth’s threat. “Please, if you do this… I promise to leave town forever.”

Robbie’s eyes widened, his gaze locking with the elf’s. His blue eyes were completely serious; deep down Robbie knew that the elf wouldn’t lie to him. _He’d be gone, and I’d never have to see him again!_

“No!” Jareth said, his voice growing desperate. “If you come with me right now, then it doesn’t matter if he leaves town! My love, please, listen to me!”

“Robbie, I beg you!”

Robbie looked back and forth between the two men, his confusion and anxiety about the whole situation growing more and more by the second. He needed to decide, and he needed to do it _now_ , and he wasn’t ready! Everything was happening so quickly!

_You know what’s right,_ his conscious said to him. _Do you really want to live the rest of your life knowing that you’re the reason the kids are gone without having done anything to fix this?_

Robbie groaned. _Being a villain with morals sucks ass._ “Jareth,” He said, not bearing to look him in the eye, “… I challenge you.”

He wanted to say more, to try and explain himself in a way that wouldn’t hurt his beloved... but the sound of dissatisfaction that came from Jareth’s mouth was enough to silence him.

“… So be it, my love,” he said, his voice enough to bring tears to Robbie’s eyes. _I’m sorry, my sweet Jareth_.

Suddenly, the world around them started to change, and before he knew it they weren’t in LazyTown anymore. Laid out in front of him was a world he could have never possibly dreamed up, and the giant maze in front of him made him swallow nervously. Sportacus was suddenly next to him, a look in his eyes that Robbie would describe as haunting. Jareth appeared in front of both of them, the emptiness on his face disturbing.

“You will face dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered, my sweet one,” Jareth said, the words sounding almost like a script. “You will have to fight your way to the castle beyond the goblin city to take back the children I have stolen… are you sure this is what you want, my dear?”

Robbie could only manage a nod. Jareth’s eyes were empty and emotionless; broken. “Because I love you my dear, I’ll give you a whole day to solve my Labyrinth… at any time, you may end this challenge, and I’ll be right there for you with open arms… I pray that you’ll be in them soon.”

With that, he vanished, the only trace of him is a lingering sigh that made Robbie shiver. Sportacus turned to him, his eyes meeting his for a brief second.

“Thank you,” he said, looking down with a nervous smile. Robbie felt like he had more to say, yet all he did was sigh, “… You did the right thing.”

_Did I though?_

 


	6. The Old Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that this chapter is late!!!!!!! sorrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy lsdjfksjdfkj got caught up with life stuff everyone, I hope you can understand. Anyway, here's the chapter for you, I hope it was worth the wait!
> 
> Enjoy!

Sportacus clutched at his crystal, a rush of emotion coursing through him as he sensed the children once more. _They’re alive… thank god they’re alive!_ He barely could fight back the tears forming in his eyes. They were safe, at least for the time being. While his crystal wasn’t glowing in alarm, he did sense some discomfort from it; almost like a warning, though he couldn’t see what was wrong exactly. All he knew was that the children weren’t desperately in need of help – in fact, there wasn’t even any fear on their end. Sportacus had now doubt that Jareth had probably cast some sort of spell on the poor children. _Don’t worry everyone, I won’t let him have you._

His eyes had closed in relief, and when he opened them once more he readied himself. A whole day would be plenty of time, though he knew he had to go now. Jareth probably had all sorts of nasty traps set throughout the labyrinth; he knew that _he_ could handle them no problem… but he wasn’t alone on this journey.

He turned to Robbie slowly, studying the man for a moment. Robbie looked… lost to say the least. There was a hint of tears in his eyes, and his hand clenched at his chest as if he was hurting. Sportacus knew he probably was. _He chose to save my life, despite Jareth’s… influence over him._ Sportacus didn’t want to use the word love; Jareth was not capable of love, at least in the sense that Robbie thought he felt. Would he say this to the poor man? No; it wasn’t his place to hurt him like that.

Robbie wasn’t like one of the children he could lecture to; he was an adult who could make adult decisions. However… Robbie wasn’t like most adults. Sportacus knew it was probably his nurturing nature that worked its way into his mind whenever he looked at Robbie. He just seemed so… vulnerable; so alone. With everything that had just happened, he felt guilty for not trying to pursue the urge to help him sooner. It was his fault that Jareth was preying upon him now; he should have never let his guard down even for a second.

_Time let things be forgotten. Time let things heal_ … he shook his head to rid himself of the thought. Sportacus cleared his throat, and Robbie jumped as if roused from a heavy dream. _Just about as lost in his thoughts as I am in mine,_ Sportacus thought. “Robbie, we should get going…”

Robbie looked at him with dull eyes. “… yeah.”

Sportacus frowned. _He’s probably in a state of shock… he needs to rest._ He knew there wasn’t time for that and sighed. Slowly, he walked over to Robbie. With all the gentleness he reserved for the children, he reached out to grab Robbie’s hand. The idea was to lead Robbie through the labyrinth as best as he could… though as soon as they touched the taller man jerked his hand away.

“What are you _doing_?” He said, his usual tone returning to him and a scowl formed on his face. He crossed his arms as his lip jutted out in a pout. “I’m not a baby that needs helped!”

Sportacus sighed. _Back to his old self just like that_ … “Follow me then… we need to get moving.”

They moved towards the maze, walking down a short hill as they arrived in a courtyard of sorts. It was overgrown with weeds and pestilent fairies, and the murky reservoir in the middle of the plaza indicated that no one had been tending the spot in quite some time. _Funny,_ Sportacus thought. _Did Jareth layoff the groundskeeper?_  

He knew he didn’t have time to worry about the landscaping of the place… yet because of the vines and weeds growing all over the place, he couldn’t find the door into the labyrinth. He knew he could probably jump the wall if need be, but Robbie couldn’t. _Maybe I could jump inside and find it and open from the inside…_

Just then, he heard a soft snore coming from somewhere in the brush. He turned his head, his ears guiding him to a small corner of the courtyard with a large, dead tree. Hesitantly, he made his way towards it. Sportacus crept lightly on his feet as to not alert the owner of the snore… but Robbie followed right behind him, his lazy steps causing the twigs and dead grass to break and snap; Sportacus winced. _Robbie…_

Remarkably, the snorer didn’t seem to hear that. Sportacus crept forward more, but like before, Robbie followed and managed to make the ground sound like microwaving popcorn. “Robbie,” Sportacus whispered. “Wait here… it could be dangerous.”

“You’re not the boss of me,” Robbie said, crossing his arms. Sportacus resisted the urge to sigh. _This is gonna be a long journey_ …

“Then please… be careful where you step? There’s something over there that we shouldn’t wake up.”

Robbie cocked his head to the side slightly, looking over at the tree. He only just seemed to hear the snoring and sighed. “Fine.”

Sportacus crept forward slowly, and this time Robbie was more careful… he was far from quiet, but the elf appreciated the effort. When they arrived at the tree, Sportacus paused. The tree had been hollowed out and appeared to have a sort of home inside of it. A gentle puff of smoke came up from the top, suggesting an active hearth from within. It was far from fancy, though the owner seemed to maintain it well enough; this was the only corner of the courtyard that the brush had been cleared. Hanging from the tree and a nearby rock was a hammock, and from within the hammock was a small, sleeping creature. Sportacus sighed in relief.

“Hoggle,” he said, loud enough to cause the dwarf to stir slightly. His eyes fluttered open momentarily, but immediately reclosed at the sight of the two of them. He began to snore again, though this time the snores were louder and forced. Sportacus sighed. “Is this what Jareth is having you do these days?”

Hoggle opened one eye, glancing over the elf with annoyance. The annoyance seemed to fade as his eyes glinted with shock, and he shook his head. “No, no… no. I. Am. Retired. I don’t have to deal with this,” he said, turning around in his hammock to face away from the two of them. The snoring resumed, and Sportacus frowned.

“So, you remember me?” Sportacus said, moving behind the hammock to face the dwarf once more. With a put-out sigh, Hoggle’s eyes opened once more. There was a look within the dwarf’s eyes that made Sportacus shiver; Hoggle frowned sadly.

“Unfortunately,” Hoggle trailed off. There was a moment of silence between the three of them, then Hoggle spat with a scowl. He sat up slowly, tossing aside the ratty quilt he was snuggled under. “What the bloody hell are you doing here? Don’t tell me you want to add ‘Stupidity’ to the list of things I remember you for.”

Sportacus paused. He looked at the small man for a second, biting his lip slightly. “… What exactly do you remember about me?”

Hoggle’s eyes softened, though still he let out a harsh laugh. “More than enough, but not what you’d like me to remember… if that’s what you’re implying.”

Sportacus sighed, his eyes lowering slightly. “… Didn’t think you would.”

Robbie groaned, seemingly growing bored of the conversation as he rolled his eyes. Sportacus looked at him reservedly. “Robbie, this is Hoggle. He’s… an old friend of mine.” Hoggle’s gaze flitted between Robbie and Sportacus, and he chuckled sourly.

“I thought you said we needed to get _going_ , Sportacus.” Robbie said in his usual annoyed tone. “Talking to a hobbit is the exact opposite of ‘getting going’…”

Hoggle’s eyes widened slightly and looked at Sportacus with a raised brow. Sportacus gave him a nervous, crooked smile. Hoggle pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Sportacus… Out of all the names you could have chosen… _Sportacus?_ Really?”

Robbie snorted slightly, though corrected himself as Sportacus turned to gaze at him. A red tint worked its way onto the elf’s face, and he rubbed the back of his head nervously. “He just called you a Hobbit and you choose to focus on my name…”

“Being a Hobbit is ten times better than being a Sportacus- I mean _really_ boy? Did no one try and talk sense into you? Did you lose your damn mind?”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Sportacus said, crossing his arms as he gave the dwarf his ‘stern’ voice. He rarely ever used it, and when he did he never directed it towards the children. Hoggle just snorted, clearly having heard worse.

“I ain’t scared of you,” Hoggle said, laying back down on his hammock with a put-out sneer. He pulled the blankets around his cheeks and sighed. “Whatever mess you got into this time, it’s all on you. I ain’t helping. Retired.”

“Look,” Sportacus said, lowering his gaze as he shook his head slowly. “I just need to know where the gate is… can you at least tell me that?”

Hoggle grimaced, his eyes closing as he let out a gruff sigh. He laid like that for a moment, though after a moment he caved. “There ain’t no gate no more,” he said, his voice lowered in a whisper. He opened his eyes to give Sportacus a warning glare. “I shouldn’t be telling you that, so if anyone asks you didn’t hear it from me!”

“No gate?” Sportacus whispered, his eyes widening in confusion as his mind raced. He looked at the maze wall and furrowed his brow. “What do you mean? How am I supposed to get inside?”

Hoggle shrugged, turning over in the hammock. “I don’t know, use your imagination. I’m sure you could figure something out.”

Sportacus rolled his eyes. “I know I could get in… but I don’t think Robbie could,” he said, gesturing towards the taller man. Robbie was currently preoccupied with a small swarm of fairies that had flown over to investigate him. They didn’t appear to be attacking, though judging by Robbie’s uncomfortable face they were getting a bit too close to his liking. They looked as if they were smelling him, probably smelling all the sugar Robbie liked to eat. Sportacus smiled softly. _If I didn’t know better, I’d say they liked him._

Hoggle apparently didn’t think so though. “Hey scrawny, those things bite!” he said, sitting up in his hammock to shout. Robbie’s face paled, and he began to flail his arms frantically to get rid of the creatures. The fairies didn’t seem too phased though, moving just far enough away to miss being hit by the flailing limbs. The dwarf seemed to get a kick out of this and chuckled before turning to the elf behind him. “He seems light enough, why not just throw him over the wall then jump over yourself?”

Sportacus frowned, the lack of amusement on his face making the dwarf roll his eyes. “I was just kidding boy, just kidding. Don’t need to get angry about it.”

“I’m serious, Hoggle,” Sportacus said. “Is there anyway into the Labyrinth that he can take?”

The dwarf looked at the elf, his mouth drawing in a taut line as his brow quirked with amusement. “You know, I don’t know your business, but if you ask me you shouldn’t have brought your boyfriend with you on your quest.”

This made Sportacus turn a deep, bright red that stretched all the way from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. His eyes widened and let out a nervous laugh at the suggestion. “He is _not_ my boyfriend, trust me – he hates me… plus, this isn’t my quest, it’s his. _He_ brought _me_ along.”  

Hoggle nodded absently. “Sure, sure, whatever you say. Look, whatever he is or whatever you two are ain’t none of my business. Point is I can’t tell you no more about how to solve the labyrinth. Jareth has left me alone for quite a while now and I’d like to keep it that way. Just take it from me that nothing’s the same... hasn’t been since _her_.”

“Her?” Sportacus asked, though Hoggle had begun to ignore him. He pulled his blanket up over his head, and a soft, though obviously fake snore escaped from underneath. Sportacus sighed, straightening from where he had been kneeling with a small stretch. “It was nice to see you again Hoggle… though I hope this will be the last time I see you _here_.”

With that, he made his way towards Robbie. The fairies were still pestering him, though nearly all flew off as the elf approached. One remained, sitting upon Robbie’s shoulder while it rubbed its face against Robbie’s neck. Robbie did not seem happy about his new fan at all. “Get. It. Off. Of. Me,” he said between gritted teeth, his arms stiff at his sides as his hands clenched with pent up rage. “Don’t let it bite me.”

“Looks like you made a friend,” Sportacus said, leaning forward slightly to study the creature. The fairies who dwelled here were mostly aggressive, considered by some higher beings to be nothing more than a household pest. His father liked to tell him that all creatures were important, and nothing was ever truly a pest. This fairy seemed to prove his point. It seemed smitten with Robbie, being oddly affectionate to him. The fairies didn’t speak a language intelligible to others, so Sportacus wasn’t quite sure how to communicate to ask who the little one was or what they wanted. He waved at the creature, who in turn just chose to completely ignore him.

“ _Don’t_ encourage it!” Robbie said, hissing in discomfort. “Just make it go away!”

“It’s not gonna hurt you Robbie, it’s just being friendly,” Sportacus said, trying to give Robbie a reassuring smile. It didn’t work, and before Sportacus could say anything, Robbie flicked the creature off his shoulder and marched away with a pout on his face. The fairy fell to the ground, sniffling softly as it rubbed its side from where Robbie had grazed it. Sportacus would have chastised him normally… though given the situation he chose not to; Robbie had already had a hard day.

_I should have just did what he asked…_ He looked down at the fairy, kneeling slowly to see if it needed help. It chose to hiss at him, sticking its tongue out as it flew away angrily.

“I’m sorry…” He said, though he knew the creature probably didn’t understand him. With that, he made his way towards Robbie. Said man was glaring at the wall of the labyrinth, his arms crossed as he tapped his foot. As Sportacus approached, he turned his glare at him.

“That took you long enough,” He said, rolling his eyes in annoyance. “What did the gnome want?”

“He wanted nothing,” Sportacus said, smiling softly at Robbie. He hoped this action would make Robbie feel a bit better, though it seemed to only make the man’s glare worsen. Sportacus put on a neutral face instead. “I was just asking him where the gate was.”

“And?” Robbie asked.

“He said… that there isn’t one,” Sportacus shrugged as he spoke, studying the wall quietly. Robbie groaned, his arms dropping to his sides as he made his frustration visual.

“Then how are we gonna get in there, Sportabutt?” Robbie asked. “I am _not_ climbing any walls.”

Sportacus brought his hand up to his chin, rubbing it slowly as he thought. “You won’t have to Robbie… Jareth may be unfair, but he wouldn’t make a maze that you can’t even get into…”

Robbie crossed his arms once more, turning his back towards the wall to lean against it… though found to his surprise that the wall wasn’t going to support him. He flailed as he fell through, landing on the ground with a loud thud. Robbie had vanished behind the veil of a wall, A groan escaping his lips as he gasped for the air that was knocked from his lungs. Sportacus gasped, rushing through the mirage to join Robbie. _Looks like he found the entrance…_

“Robbie are you okay?” He asked, looking down at Robbie. The tall man was curled on the ground in pain. Sportacus offered his hand hesitantly, though Robbie swatted it away, scrambling to his feet as he dusted himself off. He was practically fuming.

“I just fell, what do you think? Of course I’m not okay!” He said with a glare. Robbie looked at the maze around him, fuming as he turned to the next wall of the maze; the one they _hadn’t_ come through. “Stupid dumb wall!”

Robbie moved to kick the wall, and Sportacus gasped. _That wouldn’t feel good to kick!_ “Wait, Robbie-”

He was too late… yet to his shock found that his wall was a mirage as well. Robbie’s leg flowed right through it, and he fell once again on his back. The tall man let out a cry, rolling into a ball. Sportacus’s eyes widened as he looked between Robbie and the wall. _What the…_ He hesitantly reached out, his fingertips touching the image of the wall and slipping right through. It wasn’t like a hidden pathway like the maze usually had, his hand was _going through the wall_ ; it wasn’t right…

“It… it’s not real?” Sportacus reached his entire hand through the mirage, the rest of his body following suit. Once on the other side of the mirage, he tested the other wall. Like the previous two, this one was also false. He tried the next two, rushing through the mirages with ease. It wasn’t real; none of them were real.

_Why… why is this happening?_

He returned to Robbie, who was still curled up on the ground. This time when Sportacus offered his hand he took it, groaning as he got to his feet. He had tears brimming at the corners of his eyes, but he appeared to be fighting them off. Robbie wore a look of hurt and confusion as he looked at the wall. “What’s going on?” he asked, his eyes meeting with Sportacus’s. “Why did that happen?”

Sportacus was just as confused as he was. He thought back to the appearance of the courtyard they just left, and at the lack of real walls in a maze… it wasn’t supposed to be like that. Jareth took pride in his labyrinth, he _knew_ that. He would never let the courtyard get so unkempt, and he certainly wouldn’t give them a _fake_ labyrinth. While Jareth was confident, he wasn’t stupid… and while he certainly acted like it, he probably didn’t think they were that stupid either.

Robbie squeezed his hand, an act that made the elf’s heart flutter slightly. “Sportacus… What’s going on?” He asked. The elf swallowed hard, looking around them with horror.

“… something’s wrong with the Labyrinth… something _very_ wrong.”

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

As Jareth approached his castle, a procession of goblins rushed out to greet him. A procession he had _not_ ordered. First trumpeters came heralding his return, confetti shooting out from their horns with each blow. Young goblin maidens tossed flower petals of all sorts beneath his feet – rose and dandelion. Others were cheering for him and singing his praises… none of them seeming to notice the rage bubbling beneath his skin as he marched past them.

The goblin he had spoken to before he left emerged, carrying a scroll held out before his face. He turned to the trumpeters, signaling them to stop as he cleared his throat. “Presenting his royal highness! The King of the Goblins, The Keeper of the Labyrinth – our mighty king Jareth, and our new and beloved prince-” The goblin looked up long enough from his scroll to notice something was off. “… Sire… where is the prince?”

“Leave. All of you,” Jareth hissed, walking past them all. The goblin stuttered, looking up at Jareth with wide eyes.

“Sire-”

“ _LEAVE!”_ He roared, causing a stampede of goblins all around; each one moving as fast as they could to get away. All but the sad, pathetic goblin with the scroll left, though he knew that the trembling little cretin really wanted to - judging by the trembling of its knees. Jareth glared at the thing as he made his way up a flight of stairs towards his chambers. The creature scurried behind him, fiddling with its hands.

“My lord, what has happened?” it asked, it’s voice shaking harder with each word it uttered. “Please, accept my deepest apologies, I should have-”

Jareth opened the door to his chambers just wide enough to allow himself though, and once inside he slammed the door. He locked it for good measure. The goblin let out a pained cry as the door hit it in the face, though it wasn’t long before it made its way to a servant’s door on the other side of the room. Jareth chose to ignore it; usually that worked when he wanted them to go away.

This one was persistent though… it made him want to throw him from the balcony. Though of course he knew the goblin would just come running back to him like a dog playing fetch. Mutt… was the goblin’s name mutt? Jareth wasn’t sure – if not he’d make it it’s new name since it _fit to ironically._

He made his way towards his bathroom, stripping himself of his cloak as he walked inside. The goblin scurried at his feet, picking up each article of clothing that Jareth threw at him as he stripped down to nakedness. Once he had nothing but his gloves on he paused, sneering at the mitt. He didn’t want to take it off… he _wouldn’t_ look at what was underneath it.

His bathroom had a deep wading tub in the middle, which to his gratitude was already filled with hot, perfumed water in preparation for his return. _Finally they do something right_ , he thought as he slowly stepped down into the soothing warmth. _Finally something goes right today_.

The goblin hovered behind him, folding his clothes meticulously before placing them gently into a hamper awaiting cleaning. Jareth closed his eyes tight, trying to ignore the creature. He _knew_ it was gonna ask him more questions. He knew he was gonna have to deal with it and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

“… my lord,” the goblin asked. “What has happened?”

Jareth sighed, sinking into the tub so that his mouth barely hovered above the waterline. “What do you _think_ happened, mutt?”

The creature bumbled for a second, probably reacting to its newly given name. “… the prince didn’t come with you?”

“The prince _challenged_ me,” Jareth hissed, standing from to water to turn and glare at the goblin. “He challenged me for the children and is now as we speak making his way to the castle!”

The creature turned a deep red, covering its eyes from the sight of Jareth’s naked body with a small squeak. “M-my lord, I am so sorry… truly the prince- man is not worthy of such a large- _dignified_ king such as you!”

Jareth lowered his eyes, sitting back down with enough force to cause the water to splash out of the tub. “I don’t care if he’s worthy or not… I want him. I thought I did everything right, I thought I wooed him perfectly – and yet he still turned away from me…”

He stared down at his face in the water, frowning at it. He pictured Robbie’s face as he last saw him… he looked so sad, so lost. Surely he hadn’t wanted to take up the challenge… and yet he did. And it was because of _that elf._ Had the ballroom not been enough? Was there something that the elf had that he didn’t? Was there something he missed… “Perhaps I’m just a bad lover.”

The goblin rushed to the side of the tub, kneeling before the king with its eyes slammed shut for modesty. “No my king! You are the best lover – you make all the creatures in the land swoon from your perfect lover-ness! Any prince would be honored to be lovered by you!”

“ _Enough_ ,” Jareth said in annoyance, making the goblin jump from the harsh tone. “Make yourself useful and go fetch me something to eat and a clean pair of clothes.”

The goblin bowed lowly, its nose grazing the stone floor before it rose and made its way towards the door. However, the creature chose to pause before leaving. “… My lord, if I may be so bold to say… no prince in the world would be able to resist you, especially here on your home turf. Don’t give up… the battle is far from over.”

With that, the creature left, its footsteps echoing off the walls before finally receding as it left. Jareth frowned, leaning his head back to look up at the mosaic ceiling above him. “Of course it isn’t over, you fool… Robbie might have been won over by that goody two shoes elf this time, but next time… next time he’ll fall into my arms.”

He looked down at the water, his eyes falling on his one gloved hand. The leather was ruined now, the water flooding into the fingers as bubbles rose to the surface. With a groan he took it off, his palm facing away from him as he did so…

The ache was so foreign to him, the stinging, throbbing pain. As he slowly turned his hand, he glared at the small scabbed cut and the bruising that the shattered banister had cased him earlier. It scared him, he wouldn’t deny it… he was pathetic.

His eyes closed as he lowered his hand into the water, the sting from the wound making him wince. He pictured Robbie in his mind, pictured the sweet innocence within his eyes, the way he had looked at him while they danced…

_What would he think of me if he knew?_ Jareth thought, frowning at the idea. He shook his head, diving beneath the water.

He tried to force all thoughts from his mind so he could think – plan for the next move, work out a strategy… yet the fear was still there, and it shook him to his core.

He was weak.

He was mortal.

 


	7. The Prince's Hair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, I just wanted to thank you all for the comments and kudos and support you've given me - it really means a lot!
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

_ You know, when Jareth said 'hardships unnumbered', I actually thought this would be hard _ Robbie thought, dragging his feet as he followed Sportacus. They had been walking for about 3 hours now. His whole body ached, his feet especially... But honestly what bothered him the most was how  _ bored _ he was. The walking through walls gag had worn out pretty quick, and now he just felt like he was in a glitchy video game with no collision control. A quest was supposed to be challenging... Not that he was complaining exactly. Easy was good too, but dear god could anything fun or exciting happen?

Honestly, he would take playing sports with the kids over this, or eating sports candy for dinner.  _ Eugh _ he thought,  _ Just how low have I sunk to be thinking of that? _

He glanced over at Sportacus, studying the elf's face. It was unusually devoid of emotion, unless Robbie could count intense focus as an emotion… not that the elf had much to focus on with how easy this maze was, which was weird. Sportacus had argued that they should walk through each section of wall at the same time, just in case Jareth decided to turn the wall real and separate them when they least expected it. Robbie had frowned at the suggestion. Why did Sportacus have such a grudge against Jareth? How could he not see what a kind and loving man he was? Jareth was the most kind and caring man to ever exist! 

Whatever his problem was, Robbie decided not to ask. The last thing he wanted was to interact with the elf socially... Yet as his boredom grew on, even talking to him sounded like a good idea. It weirded him out.  _ What would we even talk about? Sports? How many flips he can do in a row? _

The ‘normal’ Sportacus could probably talk about that for hours; but this wasn’t the normal Sportacus. In this moment, Sportacus seemed so… mature? Robbie wasn’t sure if that was the right word for it, but as soon as the children went missing, the elf just snapped out of his usual persona. He refused to believe it was all just an act for the kids – not even he could pull off something like that for so long and  _ he  _ was the master of disguise.

As much as he hated to admit it, Robbie wanted to know what was going on in the elf’s mind. His curiosity was beyond the point of return. “So…” Robbie said, his voice cutting the silence in a way that made him want to wince. His mind scrambled once the elf turned to him, his blue eyes gazing into his too intensely for his liking. “… are we there yet?”

Sportacus frowned slightly, shaking his head as he turned his attention back to the path before them. “No. Not even close.”

_ Yeesh, you don’t gotta be so cold _ , Robbie thought, though he wanted to slap himself.  _ ‘Are we there yet?’ really?  _ “Um, so… we pretty much just have to get to that castle, right?”

“Yes,” Sportacus said. “We must fight our way to the castle beyond the Goblin City, to take back the children that were stolen.”

“Fight our way is a bit of an overstatement, don’t you think?” Robbie said, gesturing around them as they stepped through another wall of the maze. “No offence, but it isn’t like this is much of a challenge.”

“Don’t underestimate the Goblin King… he has a plan, I know it. Don’t let your guard down.”

Robbie rolled his eyes.  _ Yeah, don’t let my guard down… worse thing that’ll happen is Jareth kidnaps me and takes me to his castle and we live happily ever after.  _ He sighed, pursing his lips. “Well, if he does have a plan I wish he’d just do it already… cause this is really boring.”

That made the elf chuckle, and Sportacus shot Robbie an amused smirk. For a moment, his blue eyes lit up with a bit of their usual mirth, though it faded quickly. “Only you could find this boring Robbie.”

Robbie shot Sportacus a glare, his face heating with anger. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Sportacus turned his gaze away from Robbie, biting his lip slightly. “I didn’t say that to be mean Robbie. I only meant that only someone as unique as you could find this situation boring.”

Robbie’s face softened.  _ Unique?  _ It was better than being called  _ weird _ , though deep down he knew Sportacus had meant it that way at all. When Sportacus said something, he said it with a straightforward honesty that hid nothing. Unique meant unique; unique meant special.  _ Unique…  _ He shook his head, clearing his mind of emotions. “And you  _ aren’t _ bored?” Robbie asked.

Sportacus sighed. “I don’t think I’m capable of feeling boredom right now,” he said with a soft shrug. “… I’m a bit too worried about the kids to be bored.”

Robbie looked away, his mouth drawing in a tight line. Part of him wanted to let the conversation end, but still he pushed on. “… Who was the goblin back there?”

“Hoggle isn’t a goblin Robbie,” Sportacus said. “He’s a Dwarf – and far more pleasant to deal with than a goblin.”

“… You mean like the seven dwarves?” Robbie asked, his face creasing in confusion. Sportacus turned to Robbie, his eyebrows raised. Robbie rolled his eyes slightly. “Snow white and the seven dwarves?”

Sportacus’s face lit up in recognition. “Ah, Mjallhvít og dvergarnir sjö,” he said with a chuckle. “I know that one… it would be wise to not to refer to Hoggle as one of the seven though.”

Robbie snorted. “Yeah, I don’t plan to get on Grumpy’s bad side.”

They both chuckled slightly, the silence following soon after. It didn’t last long though; the conversation was beginning to feel much more comfortable, despite how much his brain was screaming at him not to talk to his nemesis. He thought back to the strange dwarf. “Sportacus?”

“Yes Robbie?” The elf said, his blue eyes looking at Robbie in a way that made the tall man feel strange.

“… What did Hoggle mean when he said, ‘out of all the names you could have chosen’?” he said. Sportacus shifted uncomfortably, biting his lip as he averted his eyes. Robbie tilted his head slightly as he looked at the elf. His mind raced for a moment before it hit him.  _ Wait… _ “Sportacus isn’t your real name, is it?” The look on Sportacus’s face said it all, and the elf sighed quietly. Robbie let out a small snort. “I knew it!”

Sportacus looked at him with confused eyes. “You did? How?”

Robbie rolled his eyes. “I didn’t  _ know _ , but I assumed for a while… I mean, who would name their kid Sportacus? Let me guess, it’s like your special super hero alter ego name you made up for the kids?”

The elf pursed his lips as he looked away. “Kind of…”

“So, what’s your real name then?” Robbie asked. Sportacus remained silent, his discomfort very apparent as he looked at the ground. Robbie moved closer to the elf, his eyes attempting to meet Sportacus’s. “Come on Sportaflop, I won’t tell anyone…”

Still, Sportacus said nothing. Robbie huffed in annoyance, crossing his arms with a pout. “Fine… I’ll just guess then, since you won’t tell me… is it jimmy?”

“No.” Sportacus said, his voice not holding any amusement.

“What about… Kevin?”

“No.”

“Theodore?”

“ _ No _ .”

“Juan Pablo?”

“Robbie, please…” Sportacus said, his voice almost too soft for Robbie to hear. The taller man paused, his feet stilled and unmoving. Sportacus had stopped walking as well, a strange gloominess in his composure. Robbie’s brow creased as he studied him, and he bit his lip.

This really was not like the elf. Robbie had been thinking that ever since the kids went missing but  _ this  _ was  _ really  _ not like him. He seemed… Robbie didn’t have words for how Sportacus was acting, but it felt familiar; it reminded him of himself in the strangest way possible.  _ But how could he ever know what I feel? Mr. Brightside could never understand… _

He thought for a moment as he studied the elf, and then a light went off in his head. With slightly wide eyes, he let out a small gasp. “You… you don’t have a name, do you?”

Sportacus met his gaze with distant eyes that made Robbie shiver. After a moment, the elf turned to the next row of walls in the maze and sighed. Then the elf walked through, clipping through the fake wall and out of Robbie’s sight. Robbie stuttered, shocked and confused as he ran forward towards the wall. “Wait, Sportacus-”

He went through the wall with ease just like the other walls before. Once on the other side however, he slipped on a patch of stone tile. The momentum sent him forward towards the next set of walls… yet instead of going straight through, his head hit hard against the stone barrier. Robbie curled on the ground, rubbing his forehead as he winced. Sportacus was next to him in an instant, his hands helping Robbie sit up.

“Robbie, are you okay?” the elf asked, the sadness on his face from before now replaced by concern. Robbie grumbled, briskly standing up as he wiped himself off, pushing Sportacus’s hands away… though not as angrily as he would do normally when the elf touched him. The elf reached out and touched the walls. “… I guess this is where they start materializing… we’re gonna need to start following the maze now, which means we need to find the right path.”

“I’ve had it with these walls!” Robbie said, pointing at the wall in front of him angrily. He planted the sole of his shoe against the wall, stomping on it hard. “I’ve  _ had  _ it!”

Suddenly, there was a scurry of noise from Robbie’s right, and he looked over to see a strange little creature emerge from a section of broken walls. It was ugly and short, not even tall enough to reach his knees. It had a helmet on, and some sort of mason’s spade. As it looked at Robbie, it rushed forward, pointing the spade at him. “Oi! What are ya doing? We just got that section done!”

A similar creature emerged from the same section of broken walls, this one carrying a strange looking machine that looked something like a bazooka with a toilet plunger sticking out the end of it. Robbie wasn’t sure if it was a weapon or not… but he didn’t want to take chances. He jumped behind Sportacus, fully prepared to use the elf as a human shield. Sportacus looked back and forth between the creature and Robbie, and he held his hands up defensively.

“We didn’t mean any harm to the wall,” Sportacus said with a nervous smile. “I’m sorry for the trouble.”

“Didn’t mean any harm?” the creature with the spade said, turning to the other with the strange gun thing. “That big buffoon was trying to push it over! Didn’t ya see it?”

“Yeah I saw it!” it said, narrowing its eyes at Robbie. “Destruction of the walls is punishable by a dip in the stench you know!”

Robbie didn’t know what this ‘stench’ was, and he hoped he never learned. He reached out and clutched Sportacus’s shoulders, causing the elf to turn and look at him. His blue eyes met Robbie’s for a second, then he turned back to the creatures with a frown. “Look, we don’t want any trouble,” he said. “Me and my friend were just trying to get to the castle… you wouldn’t happen to know the way, would you?”

The two creatures exchanged looks between themselves. Then, with sly smiles, they turned back to Robbie and Sportacus. “Yeah, we know the way,” the creature with the spade said. “We ain’t gonna tell ya though… unless ya grease our palms a bit if ya know what I’m saying…”

Robbie felt Sportacus sigh, his shoulders rising and falling gently underneath his hands. Suddenly realizing that he was clutching the elf, he pulled his hands back, crossing his arms awkwardly.

“We don’t have any money,” Sportacus said as he crossed his own arms to match Robbie. “We have nothing to give you.”

“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong pretty boy,” the creature with the strange machine said. It proceeded to open a small compartment of the machine, revealing some sort of canister. “You’re an elf, are you not?”

Sportacus nodded slowly, a look of uncertainty working its way onto his face. The creature smiled. “For… three strands of your hair, I might be able to give you some information that’ll help you.”

“My… hair?” Sportacus said, reaching up slowly to touch the top of his head. “Why do you need my hair?”

“To fix the walls of course!” the creature with the spade said, gesturing to the maze around them. “We’re running a bit low on juice at the moment. Magic walls need magic to be built ya know. An elf such as yourself can surely part with just three strands of hair to help out our effort… unless you don’t wanna get to the castle?”

Sportacus shrugged. “I don’t think there’s much magic in my hair… but fine,” he said, reluctantly removing his hat. He winced as he pulled a few strands of hair. Then, he handed them over to the creatures. “I hope this helps…”

They snatched the hair away, hastily shoving them into the canister within the machine. The machine then powered up, a strange white light glowing from the plunger like tip; Robbie had to look away from how bright it was.

“Fire in the hole!” the creature holding the machine shouted, who them proceeded to fire the contraption at a section of walls. It managed to patch the hole in the wall that the creatures had just come through, and a few feet of walls beyond… but then the machine abruptly sputtered and died. The two creatures shouted, slapping the barrel of the machine flutily.

Sportacus shook his head, turning to meet Robbie’s gaze. They exchanged a look of disbelief and irritation, and Sportacus sighed. “Can you tell us where the castle is now?”

The creature with the spade turned to him with a frown. “Not until you give me more of your hair!”

The elf narrowed his eyes. “You said that if I give you just three strands of hair, you’d tell me how to get to the castle.

“I-I… I meant three strands of hair  _ each _ ,” he said, smiling while pointing at Robbie.

“Robbie isn’t an elf,” Sportacus said. “… I don’t think his hair will help you.”

“ _ Sure _ it won’t,” the creature said, rolling its eyes. “Just give me the hair scrawny.”

_ No fucking way ugly,  _ Robbie thought, touching his hair with both hands. Sportacus looked at Robbie, and Robbie shook his head. “Not my hair… they can’t have my  _ hair _ !”

“Robbie, it’s just three strands… please?” Sportacus said, his eyes softly pleading. “Just three hairs.”

“I can guarantee ya if ya don’t do it, you’ll never get out of the labyrinth…” the creature said, a cruel smile on its face as he spoke. Robbie whimpered, very slowly reaching up and pulling three strands out individually, crying with each one. He then threw them at the creatures, who both scrambled to collect them. They shoved them into the machine, but before it could start up, Sportacus snatched it from the creature’s hand.

“Before you use his hair, you’ll tell us how to get to the castle,” Sportacus said, his voice stern. The creatures scrambled flutily to get the machine back, kicking at the elf’s shins in anger. This went on for a good thirty seconds before they finally gave up.

“Fine,” the creature with the spade said, pointing beyond them. “In order for ya to get to the castle, ya gotta go through the forest over there. It’s the only way to the castle from here.”

Robbie turned to see a dark and scary forest a little ways away. His knees buckled a little.  _ I don’t wanna go in there! _

“Thank you,” Sportacus said, dropping the machine to the ground and he turned to Robbie. “Come on, let’s go.”

“In  _ there _ ?” Robbie said, his voice cracking slightly. Sportacus kept walking towards it, and Robbie reluctantly followed suit with a groan.  _ I take back everything I said about this place being too boring… please let there be no monsters in there! Please! _

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The goblins scrambled to grab the machine as the two men left, both of them glaring at their backs as they disappeared into the forest.

“Good riddance I say,” said goblin with the spade, who was named Scrub. “Come on, let's get back to work.”

Knob, the goblin with the machine, picked it up and dusted it off slowly. As he powered it up, he tapped at the magic meter, watching the level rise. He groaned, stamping his foot on the ground in frustration. “Scrub, I think that elf broke it,” he said, gesturing for his friend to take a look. Scrub dropped his spade, squinting at the power level wide mouthed. He shook his head, frowning.

“… just try it,” he said, patting the machine once for good measure. Knob shrugged, firing the machine at a set of walls. They managed to finish the current wall… and the next one, and the next one, and the next until the machine finally died. Scrub and Knob shot each other shocked glances, both turning towards the forest.

They completed five whole rows of the maze, each row about a mile long, with just three strands of hair… Scrub shook his head in confusion.

“Who the hell was that guy?”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Robbie followed close behind Sportacus, his eyes wide and legs trembling. He hated creepy things, and he hated the dark and this dark spooky forest was  _ way _ too much for him.  _ Let’s go into the dark forest _ , Robbie thought.  _ It’ll be fuuunn! _

Every snap of every branch set him off, gasping and nearly jumping into the elf’s arms. Every attempt at telling himself ‘it’s probably just a bunny’ didn’t help settle his nerves at all.  _ If I get eaten in here I’m gonna haunt Sportabutt forever! _

Sportacus seemed to be handling the trek just fine though… or at least Robbie assumed he was. They hadn’t spoken a word since those creepy little creatures took his hair besides the occasional ‘this way’ or ‘watch your step’ when needed. Neither one of them mentioned their previous conversation, and Robbie wasn’t sure to be thankful or disappointed about that.

Robbie’s mind had been racing with thought ever since though. Suddenly the elf became  _ interesting  _ for once, and it’s when he finally decided to shut up. He was so conflicted as to what he actually wanted – did he want to know more, or did he want to enjoy not hearing the elf talk about sports and fruit?  _ What else is he hiding… eugh, why do I care? _

He did have to admit though, some conversation would make this forest a lot less scary, though of course he also didn’t know if not talking would keep the monsters away.  _ What’s with me wanting conversation all of a sudden? I  _ hate  _ Sportacus, why do I  _ want  _ to talk to him?! _

He groaned softly, his confusion and frustration and fear finally starting to piss him off. “… Robbie are you okay?” Sportacus asked, looking at Robbie with a raised brow. Robbie just nodded, and the elf turned back to focus on the path in front of them. Robbie narrowed his eyes.  _ I guess when the children aren’t around he’s an elf of few words… _

Robbie was beginning to wonder if the elf was mad at him. Honestly, he wouldn’t blame him… this was all kind of his fault, but if the elf  _ was  _ mad he would have preferred it if the elf would just  _ tell  _ him.

From a distance, he heard something – it was like flapping wings, though it quickly faded. It unnerved him enough that he had moved closer to the elf… close enough to run into him.

“Sorry,” Robbie whispered, taking a few steps backward to try and give the elf space. Sportacus’s turned, his blue eyes met Robbie’s, and this time the elf didn’t look away.

Robbie thought about the past few hours that had gone by – thought about the emotions he had seen cross those bright blue eyes. Anger, fear, sadness… emotions that the elf had never shown in front of him, or in front of  _ anyone  _ for all he knew. Right before him right now was a man that he didn’t know, and he was only just now finding that out after all this time of knowing him. Had he given the elf any reason to open up to him? Of course not, and it wasn’t like he  _ wanted  _ to know the elf’s business… and yet he couldn’t help but feel insulted.

He couldn’t help but feel  _ lied  _ to.  _ Who is Sportacus 10?  _ Robbie thought.  _ Where did he come from? What goes on in that head of his… _

_ And why is he looking at me right now as if he cares? _

The elf sighed softly, taking a few steps towards Robbie until he was two feet away. “… Robbie what’s wrong?” Sportacus asked, finally deciding to break the silence between them.  _ Now he decides that he wants to talk… _ Robbie looked up, biting his lips nervously for a second before scowling.

“I’m fine,” he said, straightening his vest and not making eye contact. “Let’s just go get the kids and get this over with, okay?”

Robbie took a few steps forward but was stopped as Sportacus placed his hand on his chest. This time, Robbie was forced to make eye contact. “Robbie, you don’t seem fine… you seem troubled.”

Robbie rolled his eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Sportacus frowned. “Robbie-”

“Don’t ‘Robbie’ me,” Robbie said, turning and walking towards a fallen log. He sat down, crossing a leg over a knee as he pouted. He hesitated, biting his lip before shooting the elf a glare. “Look… just don’t pretend to care, okay?”

Sportacus moved to take a step forward but stopped himself as Robbie shook his head. The elf looked at Robbie with soft eyes, which only made Robbie even more angry.

“I am the reason your precious little brats are gone, and you have the nerve to pretend to ask if I’m okay? Why? Bessie and Milford had the right idea with the mace, and heck even when you first found out that I had done this you were angry… don’t pretend that you aren’t still angry about what happened. Don’t… don’t insult me by pretending you don’t want to shout at me.”

“Robbie, I  _ don’t  _ want to shout at you.” Sportacus said. He closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. “I never should have gotten angry at you before either… I’m sorry.”

“ _ Don’t _ apologize,” Robbie said. “I’m the one that should be sorry! I… It’s my fault. It’s my fault that we have to walk through this stupid forest and do this stupid quest.”

There was a rustling in some nearby pushes that made the two of them turn and look for a moment. It settled though, and Robbie sighed in relief.  _ Now would not be a good time for a monster to appear… _

“… Robbie, it’s not your fault,” Sportacus said, taking a few steps towards the log. “It’s Jareth who took the kids, not you. He’s the evil one!”

Robbie felt an anger boil inside of him.  _ Don’t you dare insult him…  _ “There you go again, saying horrible things about Jareth! Why do you hate him so much?”

Sportacus was taken aback by the question. “He took the children and is keeping them hostage – like he has done to countless children before, of course I don’t like him!”

Robbie uncrossed his arms, pointing angrily at Sportacus. “He only did it because I asked him to! He did it because he… he loves me!”

Sportacus pursed his lips, looking away from Robbie with subtle frustration. “No, he doesn’t Robbie.”

Robbie let out an insulted gasp. “Yes, he does! He wants me to stay with him forever – he doesn’t want me to go.”

“Why?” Sportacus asked, briskly walking forward until he was right in front of Robbie. He kneeled down to him, looking straight into his eyes. “Robbie, you  _ just  _ met him, and he  _ just  _ met you!”

“And yet he’s treated me nicer than anyone has  _ ever  _ treated me before – better than the kids or Milford or Bessie have treated me… better than  _ you  _ have ever treated me!”

A wave of sadness crossed the elf’s face. “Robbie…”

Robbie swallowed hard, feeling some heavy emotions coming on. “Like I said before, don’t pretend to care… you don’t know me, and you don’t know what I’ve been through… and apparently, I don’t know you either.”

“You  _ really  _ don’t know him,” A voice said from the bushes. They both froze, looking around them in confusion. Suddenly, the log creaked next to him, and he felt the weight shift. He turned, his eyes wide as the strange eyes of Jareth stared into his own. Jareth was wearing a dark silk shirt and matching pants, a look that reminded Robbie of Westley as the Dread Pirate Roberts  in the Princess Bride; all he needed was a sword and a mask. The goblin king smirked. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

“Jareth…” Robbie said, his heart pounding loudly within his chest. “What are you doing here?”

Jareth feigned hurt, bringing his hand to his chest as if offended. “Are you not happy to see me my dear? I thought you would be overjoyed to see me again.”

“Oh I am,” Robbie said, giving the king a bashful smile. “I just wasn’t expecting you-”

“Neither was I,” Sportacus said, crossing his arms across his chest as he glared at the goblin king. “What do you want?”

“I’m not here to talk to you, elf,” Jareth said, his voice stern yet his eyes never leaving Robbie’s face. “Why don’t you go beyond those trees over there and give us a bit of privacy?”

“ _ Never _ ,” Sportacus said, taking a menacing step forward towards him. Robbie sent the elf a scowl, which was thankfully enough to make him stand down.

“How do you like my Labyrinth?” Jareth asked, reaching out to touch Robbie’s hair. The feeling of his fingers running through his hair was magical, and he leaned into the touch with eyes shut. Jareth let out a chuckle as he pulled his hand away. Robbie opened his eyes, almost daring to pout. Jareth held one of Robbie’s hairs between his fingers, studying it for a moment before closing his fist around it. There was a small moment of silence, then the goblin king sighed. “Are you having fun with your little quest?”

Robbie nodded slowly, not wanting to mention the glitchy maze or the weird creatures stealing his hair. It seemed as if this answer was not satisfying to Jareth though, and he frowned. “Are you sure my dear? By the looks of it I’d say you weren’t having much fun at all when I showed up just now… Is the elf bothering you, my love?”

Sportacus glared at Jareth, his fists clenching hard enough to make his knuckles go white. Jareth ignored this, just continuing to gaze at Robbie. Robbie… he didn’t know what to say. He saw what Jareth was capable of doing to him before – and as much as the elf was pissing him off, he really didn’t want to see that again. “I’m fine Jareth… thank you.”

“Ready to give up yet?” Jareth said, his voice teasing though Robbie felt like it wasn’t completely a joke. Nevertheless, Robbie let out a soft chuckle. God how he wanted to say yes… he wanted to get away from Sportacus so much right now.

“We will never give up,” Sportacus said, his voice cold and challenging. “You can’t break our will.”

_ Sportacus, don’t ruin this for me!  _ Robbie thought, sending Sportacus a glare. This time, Jareth did turn his attention to Sportacus. With a cold, emotionless smile, he stood up from the log and walked over to the elf. Sportacus glared at him with an anger that Robbie didn’t know was within the elf.

Jareth shook his head in amusement. “Is that so?” he said, crossing his arms. Jareth paused to study the elf over, his smirk growing colder and colder. “You seem rather sure of yourself…”

Sportacus let out a cold laugh, moving closer to the Goblin King. “Your labyrinth is nothing.”

They stood there for a second, neither one saying anything as they glared at each other. “… What else have you left to lose, you stupid elf?”

Robbie’s brow quirked as Sportacus demeanor faltered slightly, his eyes glossing over with an emotion Robbie couldn’t place. His gaze switched between the two, feeling the tension rise.  _ What’s going on between them? _

Sportacus shook his head, glaring at the goblin king with newfound anger. “Your labyrinth is a  _ piece of cake _ .”

Something within Jareth snapped then, his mouth pursing in a cold, furious sneer. Those strange, mismatched eyes filled with both pain and rage. His fist clenched, and Robbie could have sworn he saw a trickle of blood gush between his fingers on one hand… Robbie couldn’t help but gasp at the sight.

“A piece of  _ cake _ is it?” Jareth said, his voice barely containing his composure. Jareth spun on his heel, marching away from them and towards the edge of the tree line. He lifted his clenched hand, opening his closed fist for them both to see as a few drops of blood and Robbie’s single strand of hair drifted towards the ground. A cold smirk worked its way onto his face as he glared at Sportacus; his eyes could kill. “Let’s see how you deal with  _ this  _ slice!”

With that, Jareth vanished into the trees, the sound of flapping wings fading into the distance. Not long after, the ground started to tremble. Robbie’s eyes widened, as did Sportacus’s as the trembling grew louder and louder, and the sound of snapping trees grew closer and closer.

“Sportacus…” Robbie said, his voice shaking as he got up from the log. The elf turned to him, moving to shield him from the approaching threat.

“Stay behind me,” Sportacus said, his voice commanding as their eyes met. “… and if I say run, run as fast as you can.”

Robbie nodded, their eyes locking for a moment longer before Sportacus finally turned away. He reached down, picking up a large, thick branch for a club. With a soft sigh, he poised the club, ready to swing.

“… Whatever happens, Robbie… I won’t let it hurt you…”

Then, with a sickening snap, the tree line crumbled as a horrifying monster smashed through to greet them. They gasped, both from fear… as well as confusion.

Facing them was an enormous, hideous…. two-layer slice of chocolate cake with rainbow sprinkles on top and jagged chocolate chunks between the layers for teeth. It opened its ‘mouth’ roaring that them with a deafening, inhuman noise; globs of chocolate drool went flying at them.

Robbie stared in disbelief, shaking his head slowly as the thing loomed over them. “What… The… Fuck.”

 


	8. The Giant Cake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, I am happy to upload this chapter so quickly for you all! It's a bit shorter than the last, but still good :) 
> 
> I just wanna say thank you again for all the comments and kudos and support I have been given for this fic. I never imagined that this fic would get so much attention! Thank you thank you thank you, and please enjoy this installment <3

Sportacus stared at the ungodly creature before him with wide eyes. He had faced many challenges before, but nothing unnerved him more than what he saw before him now. It was at least thirty feet tall, its shadow darkening the forest around them to pitch black. Its jaw was lined with jagged, almost black chocolate teeth; it gnashed them together with agitation. With a deep growl it stuck out a long, forked sugar tongue to taste the air around them… it had sharp barbs for taste buds. From behind it came long marzipan ribbons acting like tentacles, snapping the trees around them as it dragged the creature closer before pausing right in front of them. There was no doubt in Sportacus’s mind that this thing was the deadliest piece of cake to ever exist.

Giant monsters were hard enough to fight without adding in his _one_ weakness into the equation. He hated to admit being afraid of a giant piece of cake. It wasn’t the fact that it was _cake_ that was troubling though… it was the fact that if that thing hurt him even a _little_ , he would be done for.

_If it scratches me, bites me, or in any way gets into my system…_ Sportacus swallowed hard as he thought of the repercussions of losing. He gripped the makeshift club in his hand firmly, studying the creature and preparing for the first strike. The thing didn’t appear to have any distinguishable eyes, ears, or a nose; Sportacus didn’t dare hope that the thing was incapable of detecting them by either sense though. A monster that’s a giant piece of cake didn’t abide by normal laws of nature.

Robbie whimpered behind him, clutching his shoulders tightly. “Piece of cake?” Robbie said, his voice barely audible yet still full of annoyance. “You just _had_ to say cake, huh?”

The creature spread its mouth wide as Robbie spoke, revealing that the entire mouth was lined with chocolate teeth – all the way to the back of the throat. The sweet smell of its mouth assaulted the elf’s nose, and he could feel bile forming at the back of his throat. His eyes dashed frantically as he studied the thing. _I don’t even know where to strike it!_ He thought, cursing Jareth with every fiber of his being. _I should have just kept my mouth shut…_

A sickening gurgle escaped the back of the monster’s throat; it sounded like the snapping of bones, and with what Sportacus could only describe as a grin, it lunged.

“Run!” Sportacus shouted, shoving Robbie out of the way as he swung his bat as hard as he could at the creature. It collided with a wet smack against the cake’s ‘jaw’. Chocolate icing went flying, splatters getting on Sportacus’s clothes and face; he frantically wiped it away from his mouth and eyes. _Even one drop and I’m toast_ he thought, spiting to rid himself of the phantom taste the smell left on his tongue.

The hit caused the cake to slide into a nearby tree. For a moment it was stunned, and Sportacus took the opportunity to try and catch up with Robbie. Unfortunately, the stun didn’t last long, and the cake lunged again towards Sportacus – now more pissed than before. The ground rumbled as it approached, trees falling and snapping as it’s tentacle arms ripped them from the ground. It was hot on his tail, and Sportacus turned around just in time to see the tree it was throwing at him. He ducked, watching as it shattered against a nearby boulder. _That could be me if I’m not careful…_

He turned back towards it just in time, raising his bat to deflect a chunk of chocolate being thrown at him. His eyes widened as he realized that the chunk was one of its _teeth_ , and he watched as it spit three more at him like bullets. He flipped backwards to evade them, landing on top of the boulder facing the monster. _It can shoot at me… great._

The cake used its tongue to rip out a few more of its teeth, pushing them to the back of its throat as it prepared to shoot again. Sportacus shook his head in agitation and inhaled sharply as he sprung forward. He flipped forwards at it, flying through the air with a graceful flip towards it. He kicked down hard on its head, but not before the creature managed to slash its tongue at his leg. Thankfully it only managed to shred his pants. _Too close!!_

It smacked the ground hard, the sudden closing of its jaw causing the cake to bite off its tongue. The sound it made was deafening, the forked tip flopping on the ground for a moment before finally stilling.

Sportacus jumped off its head, landing a good distance away before taking off in a sprint once more. He made sure to keep looking back though, and he noticed to his dismay that the creature picked up its amputated appendage and swallowed it, gnashing its teeth for a moment before revealing the now reattached tongue. _Okay, if I maim it, I need to destroy whatever I remove. Got it._

The thing was now furious, and if it had eyes it would have been glaring at the elf; it was out for blood now. It wrapped a few of its tentacles around the same boulder he had just been on. With incredible strength it hurled it towards him. Sportacus grunted as he sprung out of the way, dropping his bat to do a few handsprings backwards. This turned out to be a mistake, as the boulder managed to land _right_ on top of his weapon; its splinters flew everywhere. He sighed. _Oops…_

He knew then and there that if he had any chance of beating this thing, he needed to get as far away from it as possible – and he needed to have the high ground. After flipping over the boulder, the sprinted away as quickly as he possibly could. It wasn’t long until he caught up with Robbie, the taller man having ran out of breath and was now doubled over in a cramp.

“Robbie, get ready!” Sportacus shouted, ducking low as he lunged towards him. Robbie turned to him in confusion.

“Get ready for wha-” Robbie started to say. He was interrupted as Sportacus swept him off his feet and into his arms, bridal style. The taller man let out a small cry from shock, but thankfully he didn’t protest. Instead, he wrapped his arms around the elf’s neck, holding on for dear life – though thankfully not so tight that Sportacus couldn’t breathe.

Sportacus ran as fast as he could, the trees almost a blur around them. Robbie let out a small whine, and the elf looked behind them to see the cake in hot pursuit. At this rate, it would get to them long before he found some high ground. He cursed under his breath, his mind racing for ideas. _Come on, we need to think of something quick…_

A thought popped into his head, and he turned to glance at Robbie for a moment. “You wouldn’t happen to have any ideas on how to defeat this thing, would you?” the elf said, attempting to hide the panic in his voice but failing. Robbie met his gaze, the fear within his grey eyes making Sportacus’s heart race even faster than it already was.

“Why would _I_ know how to kill it?!” Robbie said, his voice cracking as he trembled slightly. “Aren’t _you_ the hero here? You must be some sort expert on big scary monsters and how to kill them!”

“Robbie, it’s a giant piece of _cake_!” Sportacus said, letting out an anxious laugh. “Surely you’d have at least some idea?”

Robbie thought for a moment. “I’m an expert at _eating_ cake, not killing cake… and I don’t think I can eat fast enough to make any difference,” he said, glancing back at the cake apprehensively. Sportacus sighed, jumping hard onto a nearby stump before landing on a tree branch. He jumped from tree to tree as fast as possible; he hoped it would slow the creature down fast enough to think of an idea.

“It can shoot its teeth, and throw things with its arms,” Sportacus said, locking eyes with Robbie. “It tongue is like a whip, and if you manage to dismember any part of it, it can just reattach it… if we’re gonna attack it, we need something _big_ … please Robbie.”

Robbie pursed his lips, closing his eyes hard. He whispered _think, think_ to himself. He opened his eyes a moment later, only for them to widen as he looked behind them. “Sportacus-”

A wet slurry of chocolate collided against the elf’s back, causing him to lose his balance. _Shit!_ He fell forward, flipping around onto his back to protect Robbie from impact. They crashed through three tree branches before finally hitting the ground. The elf gasped as the air was knocked out of him; he slammed his eyes shut from the pain. His mind went blank, and for a moment the world around him faded.

 

_You must never turn your back on your opponent son… never let them catch you off guard._

_Find their weakness and use it to your advantage. There is no opponent without a weakness – not even you. Don’t_ ever _let them see yours. Do you understand me?_

_… Yes father._

His eyes shot open. With a pained gasp, he refilled his lungs, rolling onto his side. Robbie was shaking him frantically, his eyes wide with fear. “Sportacus, get up!” he said, his voice a panicked whisper. He grabbed Sportacus’s hands, huffing as he pulled the elf off the ground. Sportacus had to shake his head to fully come back to his senses.

The monster was getting close, the ground trembling louder and louder. Sportacus grabbed Robbie again, taking off in a sprint once more. He could hear the creature getting closer and closer, and Robbie clung to him tighter and tighter. Sportacus narrowed his eyes in determination. “Robbie, I need you to by my eyes, okay? Can you do that?”

“Duck!” Robbie yelled with wide eyes, pointing behind them. Sportacus bent forward just in time to dodge a barrage of teeth flying at them. _I’ll take that as a yes,_ Sportacus thought.

He sprinted forward, not daring to look behind them; he needed to get them out of there. Robbie laid his chin against Sportacus’s shoulder as his grip tightened around the elf’s neck. Sportacus clutched him tighter too.

_I need to get him_ _out of here._

“Robbie, we need to find it’s weakness _fast_ ,” Sportacus said, jumping put onto a low-hanging branch as he returned to jumping from tree to tree. He scanned the landscape from this new position, noticing the castle to their east. If all else failed, they could maybe _try_ to make it to the goblin city with the monster… if they did that, the goblins would be forced to fight it as well. Sportacus doubted they’d be able to reach it though. He shot Robbie a short, pleading glance. “Please, you must know something about its weakness. What destroys cake?”

“Jump right!” Robbie shouted, and Sportacus moved just in time to deflect another slurry of chocolate icing.

Robbie fell quiet for a while. Sportacus waited hopefully for an idea… but besides telling Sportacus about incoming threats, Robbie gave no new thoughts. “Robbie?” Sportacus said, turning around slightly to see the cake getting far too close for his liking. “Any ideas?”

“I’m _scared_!” Robbie said, his voice a sad, terrified cry. He buried his face in the elf’s neck, and Sportacus felt the taller man’s tears against his skin.  “I-I can’t think right now!”

Sportacus frowned, his brow furrowing as he looked down at Robbie; the taller man was practically trembling. _Oh Robbie…_ Sportacus tightened his grip on him and turned his head slightly so that his lips brushed Robbie’s ear. He felt Robbie stiffen at the feeling, and quietly hoped he wasn’t being too forward.

“…Yes, you can Robbie,” Sportacus said, pushing aside all his fear and panic; he wouldn’t let Robbie see his fear. “You are the smartest person I know… and I know you can do this. I believe in you.”

He felt Robbie slowly raise his head from his neck… and just in time too. “DUCK!”

Sportacus bowed as a tree stump passed just inches above his head. He heaved a sigh of relief, continuing towards the castle. Robbie tapped his fingers against Sportacus’s shoulder for a moment. The elf could practically hear the gears in Robbie’s head turning; then, Robbie had an idea.

“I got it!” He said, his voice becoming elated. “Okay, so one time I was having cake, and I decided- MOVE LEFT!” Sportacus did as Robbie told, avoiding a barrage of teeth. They both sighed, then Robbie continued. “So anyway, I decided that I wanted some chocolate milk with my cake. You know how people like to dip their cookies in milk? Well, I had the brilliant idea to- RIGHT!”

Sportacus followed through, avoiding the next obstacle. Robbie continued on. “I dipped my chocolate cake in the milk to see what would happen… and long story short the cake just fell apart and it was sad, but it still tasted good because then it was like a cake porridge and-”

“Robbie,” Sportacus said, smiling as he listened to Robbie speak yet desperately needing a point to the story. “Are you saying… that if we get the cake wet, that will destroy it?”

“Exactly!” Robbie said. “So now we- JUMP!”

Sportacus jumped just in time to avoid a swipe from the cake’s tentacle arms. Sportacus glanced behind them, and his eyes widened as he saw how close the cake was now. _Oh no…_ He had no time to react before another tentacle slapped him aside. It sent him flying, Robbie falling from his arms with a cry. The elf managed to grab onto a nearby tree branch, stopping his fall. With a grunt, he hoisted himself back up as quickly as he could. “Robbie?!” He screamed, his eyes wide as he scanned the tree line for the taller man.

“HELP!” Robbie screamed, and that’s when Sportacus saw him. Dread filled his heart as he saw the cake clutching Robbie tightly within a tentacle, raising him high into the air. It gnashed its teeth together; it looked hungry. _No!_ Sportacus thought, racing towards the cake as fast as he could. _Not him. Not Robbie!_

His mind raced for a solution to free Robbie… and then, with a smile, he reached into his backpack and grabbed his water bottle. _Let’s hope this works,_ he thought as he opened the top. As he got closer the cake growled, lowering Robbie away from its mouth as it prepared to shoot more of its teeth. Sportacus jumped, aiming the water bottle. _Only one shot…_

The creature opened its mouth… and Sportacus squirted to water. It screamed in agony as the water melted at its tongue. _It worked!_ Sportacus thought triumphantly. Robbie slipped through the creature’s tentacle as it writhed in pain, falling with a scream. Sportacus gasped, quickly putting his water bottle back before jumping for Robbie.

Robbie landed in his arms with an thud, and then they were off again; Sportacus was practically beaming. “Robbie, you were right! The water worked, I knew you could do it!”

Sportacus’s eyes locked with Robbie’s, and the taller man’s face turned red. He held the gaze for a few seconds longer before breaking and looking down. “Of course I could do it! Just don’t tell anyone I did you any favors!” 

The elf sighed, his smile remaining. _Back to his usual self._ “Okay, so now we just need to find more water…”

Sportacus scanned the area, looking while also using his ears to listen for the sound of running water. _Where in the labyrinth is there water? Maybe a river? Lake? Marsh…_

“The Bog of Eternal Stench!” Sportacus said, “We can push it into the bog!”

“What?” Robbie said, his brow raising. “What the heck is the Bog of Eternal Stench?”

Sportacus smiled. “You’ll know it when you smell it,” he said, inhaling sharply through the nose. He smelled the sugary frosting all over his clothes, and the smell of Robbie’s shampoo… it smelled like vanilla… and then he smelled something foul. _Bingo._

He headed for it, dropping down from the tree tops. It was close, and if he ran fast enough he could make it before the cake got them. Said cake spat out its rotted tongue, howling as it began its pursuit of them once more. Sportacus ran as fast as he possibly could away from it. Robbie held on for dear life, burying his face in Sportacus’s shoulder. The ground trembled beneath his feet as the cake chased them, the ground beginning to split in some places from the tremors. This was it for the cake – it was exerting all its power to destroy them now.

The foul smell of the bog got stronger and stronger. _Just a little more! Just a little way!_ Sportacus could feel it on his heels and ducked as a tentacle tried to swipe at his head. _So close! Come on!_

Just in time, they came across a clearing. Dead grass littered the ground, and the horrid smell made Sportacus want to gag. There was a steep cliffside, and down below was the bog… now he just needed to get the cake to fall over it.

“Dear god, what’s that smell!?” Robbie said, loosening his grip on Sportacus enough to pinch his nose shut. “Sportacus, did you just-”

“ _That’s_ the bog, Robbie” Sportacus said, rolling his eyes slightly. “Trust me.” He dived to the side and the cake lunged, its tentacles snapping like whips at them. Carefully, he sat Robbie down on the ground. He paused only for a moment to look into the taller man’s eyes. “Wait here.”

“Wait, what are you doing?” Robbie asked, his eyes growing wide with fear. Sportacus turned away, charging towards the cake at high speed. Robbie reached out for him. “Sportacus!”

As the elf approached the creature, it hissed at him in both anger and pain. It flashed its toothy mouth at him, gaping wounds present where it had ripped its own teeth out. He hated Jareth with every fiber of his being. _Had it not been Jareth who created you, this could have ended better for both of us…_

“Follow me…” Sportacus said, walking backwards towards the cliffside, keeping his eyes locked on it. The creature pawed at the ground with its tentacles, raising its haunches at it readied for the strike. “Yeah, that’s right. I’m the one you want. Come and get me!” _And as soon as it lunges, I duck out of the way…_ He braced himself for it. The cake lurched forward.

“Sportacus, move!” Robbie screamed, his voice echoing off the cliffside. This was enough to draw the cake’s attention away from the elf. It spun around, beginning it’s charge towards the sitting man; the cake was going in for the kill, and Sportacus’s heart nearly stopped.

“NO!” he said, sprinting after the creature. Robbie had frozen in fear, his eyes wide as dinner plates as the monster approached. The cake dug its jaw into the ground as it charged, breaking off a few teeth in the process that it prepared to fire. _No! No! No! Robbie!_ He dove after Robbie, rolling as he grabbed the frightened man. With every ounce of strength he had, he threw him away from the monster. Robbie landed in a bush, his eyes wide as he watched the scene unfold.

And then, the worst pain he had ever known reverberated throughout Sportacus’s. Robbie screamed, but he couldn’t understand what he was saying. It hurt… oh god it hurt. Sportacus’s eyes widened, and he doubled over in agony. He couldn’t help but cry out from the pain of it.

Sticking out of his shoulder was a tooth. It ripped through his flesh, and it stung as bad as acid. He could feel his blood gushing out around it, soaking in the sugar. It was over.

_No… no… I was so close… Robbie…_

He thought of Stephanie and the other children. What would they do without him? The goblin king… Robbie couldn’t face him alone.

The creature towered above him triumphantly. It clicked its teeth together before opening it’s mouth wide in anticipation. Sportacus could barely move. He watched with half-lidded eyes as it lowered its head to him. There was nothing he could do; he was useless. _Robbie, Stephanie… I’m sorry_

_I’m sorry I failed you._ He thought as he closed his eyes

“NO!” Robbie shouted. Before the creature could react, Robbie dived at it. Sportacus watched in shock as the force of Robbie’s tackle threw them away from the elf. _Robbie…_ The creature and Robbie fought in a battle of sorts, Robbie pushing and biting at the creature, ripping off chunks of cake as the creature backed away from him in agony. Sportacus had never seen Robbie like this before.

Soon the pair was right at the edge of the cliff, the cake desperately trying to get Robbie off as he clung to its side eating and ripping it apart. The cake began to slip.

_Robbie!_ Sportacus wanted to scream as he watched in anguish as Robbie fell with the monster over the side of the cliff. His eyes were wide as he heard splashing water. There was a haunting scream, which Sportacus didn’t know was from the monster or from Robbie. The screaming went on for what felt like ages… and then it died into silence.

Sportacus could feel the tears streaming down his face, his eyes burning as a pain even worse than the spear of chocolate in his shoulder ached in his chest. Robbie was gone. Despite what little strength he had left, a scream escaped his lips, a scream loud enough to echo for ages after it had finished.

_No… no…_

With what little strength he had, he reached into his backpack. It took him far too long to find the apple slices he had inside, and it took him even longer to finally get the baggie for them open. He shoved two slices in his mouth at once, chewing eagerly as he felt some of his strength return to him. With that strength, he dragged himself to the side of the cliff. The pain in his shoulder was agonizing but he didn’t care. He had to stop twice to finish off the rest of the apple slices before he finally reached the side. His breath was labored once he finally reached the edge.

Sportacus almost didn’t want to look over the side… he didn’t want to know what he’d see, and yet he _had_ to. _I have to know…_

And once he finally did look, tears of joy fell from his eyes. Right over the edge of the cliff was a small ledge. Perched on that ledge was a triumphant, cake covered Robbie Rotten licking his fingers eagerly. A laugh caught in the elf’s throat, overwhelmed by a sob that caused the taller man to look up.

“Sportacus?” Robbie said, his wide eyes one of the only things visible through the chocolate icing all over his face. “… I think it’s dead.”

Sportacus couldn’t help but smile at the man, his eyes heavy from all the tears. “Yeah… I think you’re right.”

Robbie reached up for the elf’s hand, and with as much strength as the elf could muster he pulled the man back up onto land. Once Robbie was safe, Sportacus wrapped his arms around him. He didn’t want to let go. This only seemed to confuse the taller man.

“Sportacus?” Robbie said. “… let me go?”

Sportacus’s eyes suddenly felt very, very heavy. He was so tired…

As he leaned forward against Robbie, his smile softened into contentment. His mind went blank, the face of the taller man the only thing he saw. He sighed, quickly fading away.

_… I don’t know what I would have done without you…_


	9. The Hot Spring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, I have a new chapter for you... but before you read, i'd just like to take a moment to note the passing of Stefan. 
> 
> It hit me hard, as he was a role model for me that i've looked up to for a while. I miss him with every day that goes by - Thank you for the laughs Stefan. Rest in Peace.
> 
> I also want to make a note about the contents of this chapter... while there isn't anything TOO raunchy, I just want to warn you guys that there is a bit of nudity in this chapter, as well as some fairly graphic descriptions of wounds. Like I mentioned in the first chapter, if y'all think I should update the rating of this fic, please let me know 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter - and thank you once again for all the kudos and comments <3

Robbie grunted, his legs buckling under the weight of the elf on his shoulder… the unconscious, possibly  _ dying  _ elf on his shoulder. He didn’t remember the elf being this heavy last time he carried him during a sugar meltdown. Maybe it was the added circumstances of what had just happened that made Robbie feel like he was carrying a ton – he  _ was  _ tired, and it didn’t help that it had started to rain. The tall man sighed, his brow furrowed with worry.  _ Why does it always have to rain when something bad happens? _

Tiny droplets of water ran down his cheek, causing streaks of chocolate frosting to run down onto his already caked vest. Robbie cursed internally, knowing that there was no way he was gonna get the stains out of his clothes. Not to mention his hair was ruined, and frosting kept getting into his eyes, and the beginnings of a tummy ache turned in his belly. He was starting to really regret jumping onto that ugly cake monster.

Sportacus let out a soft, pained moan, and Robbie paused. He bit his lip, feeling guilty.  _ This is my fault… _

He slowly made his way through the forest, looking for a good place to settle down and figure this all out. His mind tried to think back to all the survivor TV shows he watched over the years. First things first was shelter, of course… or was it fresh water? Food- no, water always came before food. A frustrated groan escaped his lips.  _ Priorities… get that thing out of Sportaflop’s shoulder… and I need a safe place to try and do that _ .

It was starting to downpour on them now, the water drizzling off of the foliage of the trees above him. The pounding of the water droplets on the leaves was like drums, and if Robbie wasn’t terrified he might have thought it beautiful. His heart was beating louder than it ever had before – louder than all the times his inventions has failed, or when he had nightmares… louder even then when Jareth had held him…

Sportacus was supposed to be the hero between the two of them. If it had been Robbie with a giant spear of chocolate impaling him, Sportacus would have known just what to do. He would have patched Robbie up with a magic band aid and there would be nothing to worry about. Sportacus was the  _ good  _ one between the two of them.

Robbie was the  _ villain _ . He should have been relishing in the defeat of his nemesis, not biting his lip on the verge of tears.  _ Sportacus…  _ His eyes closed as he fought the urge to cry. If he hadn’t yelled and caught the cake’s attention, none of this would have happened. This was all his fault, and he couldn’t even pretend to be happy that Sportacus was dying. Robbie was a villain, but he wasn’t a monster.  _ I did this. I have to fix it. _

He may have not been good at being good, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t gonna try his best. Robbie shifted the elf on his shoulder, then marched on with a newfound determination. Puddles of rain splashed underneath his feet as he walked, soaking through his socks but still he marched on.

A wave of relief hit him as he spotted a cave up ahead. With a small smile, he made his way over to it. The cave was fairly large, and as he stepped inside he noticed how warm it was. It was like walking into a sauna. They certainly wouldn’t need a fire to keep warm… though he knew he needed one for light. The rain outside was starting to turn into a storm, and the cloud cover made it seem like dusk. Carefully, he laid Sportacus up against the cave wall; he frowned at the pained face the elf made.

He knew that they needed dry wood to start a fire, but of course that was going to be a problem since it was raining cats and dogs outside. There was probably a trick to finding dry wood in a storm. Robbie tried to remember anything, but of course his mind was drawing a blank. He left the cave, resorting to picking up random sticks and twigs hoping that somehow he could get them to light.

Though of course once he returned to the cave there was the dilemma of how even start the fire in the first place. He cursed himself for not paying attention to the children’s scouting lessons that one time he pretended to be scoutmaster… not that he needed their stupid scouting lessons to survive in the wild.

Robbie sighed. He could start the fire a different way… The image of his scalding mother ached at the back of his mind. She hated it when he messed around with this; using his ‘ _ gifts _ ’ for makeup and clothes was fine, as long as no one saw… she would be turning in her grave if she knew, but now he needed to disobey her wishes.

_ Mama, forgive me,  _ he thought to himself as he arranged the sticks for the fire. He made a neat stack, sticking the kindling just right. Then with a slow breath, he snapped his fingers. A small puff of smoke rose from the stack of wood, the smell of cedar filling his nose before a small burst of flame engulfed the wood. He frowned.  _ Good. Now, never do that again. _

He turned his attention back to the injured elf. The orange glow of the flames danced across his feverish face, a thick sheen of sweat covering his furrowed brow. Robbie kneeled before him, carefully removing Sportacus’s vest. He was careful to pull it off the chocolate gently so as not to aggravate the wound. The crystal was flashing violently, and Robbie wondered what to do with it. He didn’t trust himself not to lose it if he just sat it aside.

Robbie opened up the mechanism that held the crystal, and he pulled it out. To his surprise, there was a necklace chain already attached to the crystal.  _ Huh… I wonder if he did this because of stingy. Lord knows the spoiled little brat wouldn’t be able to resist wearing the darn thing around his neck for all to see if he found it like this. Smart.  _ Robbie poised to place it around his neck for safe keeping… but as soon as the crystal touched his chest he jumped. With wide eyes he removed it; it took all of his strength not to throw it.

The pain… he felt Sportacus’s pain. It was the most horrible thing he had ever felt in his life. Robbie brought his hand up to his mouth, cupping as he fought the urge to cry.  _ Does… he always feel pain like this whenever the kids are scared or hurt?  _ Robbie’s eyes studied the elf, a strange aching in his chest as he did so. Carefully, he set the crystal to the side, making sure not to touch it. He cleared his throat, returning to removing the elf’s clothes.

There was no way he was going to get the T-shirt off without ripping it off. He huffed, grabbing the shirt around the chocolate spear as he tried to tear it. His arms shook from the effort. Eventually, it gave away, and he tossed it aside. His breath hitched as he studied the wound.

The flesh around the chocolate was a sickly purple, a strange gold fluid leaking out around the chocolate spear.  _ Huh… it’s caramel filled chocolate?  _ Given any other day, caramel filled chocolate would have sounded good to Robbie. He shuddered and stuck out his tongue. Sportacus’s chest heaved with labored breaths; they were getting weaker and weaker. Robbie’s eyes trailed over the elf’s pectoral muscles for a moment; he had never seen him topless before…

He shook his head.  _ Stop. _

Now came the hard part… he knew he needed to remove the chocolate because of the sugar meltdown, but he also knew from survival shows that removing it could cause bleed out. Strangely enough, he didn’t see anything resembling blood coming out of the wound.  _ Well at least I don’t have to worry about him bleeding out at the moment…  _ he bit his lip as he thought. If he did nothing, Sportacus would die – though Robbie wondered if eventually the chocolate would just melt out and it would all be fine… he doubted it.

A pained gasp escaped the elf’s lips, his eyes tightly squeezed shut. Robbie’s eyes narrowed.  _ He’s not gonna last much longer like this… It needs to come out. Now.  _ He remembered this one TV show episode where they had to remove an arrow from a dude’s leg. As soon as the arrow was removed, they had to apply pressure. Robbie looked at the width of Sportacus’s wound. It was about the size of his fist… he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to apply enough pressure to a wound that big.

_ I guess we’ll find out then,  _ he thought as he grabbed the chocolate tooth. He took a deep breath, counting down mentally before pulling hard. Sportacus’s eyes shot open, a broken scream escaping his lips as the chocolate ripped away from his body. Tears rolled down his cheeks from the pain; Robbie’s breath hitched as he watched the elf. “I’m sorry, Sportaflop,” Robbie said, grunting as he finally removed the chocolate. “It’s for your own good.”

Once the chocolate was finally out, the elf passed out. There seemed to be some relief on his face already, and Robbie thanked whatever deity was watching out for them that day. The caramel was oozing out of the wound now, Robbie guessing that it must have melted out of the chocolate. He grabbed the ripped T-Shirt, balling it up as he put it to the wound. Robbie pressed down as hard as he could. He stayed like that for a while, the caramel oozing out around the T-shirt slower and slower as time passed; it was really warm caramel, and very runny too…

Robbie’s eyes widened, and he gasped.  _ It’s not caramel… it’s blood. The damn elf has golden blood! _

He jerked his hands away, wiping them on his vest – an act that he immediately regretted as there was now elf blood on his clothes. Robbie gagged.  _ And here I thought it was candy… I’ll never be able to eat caramel again thanks to you, Sportapoop. I hope you’re happy! _

With a sigh he stood up. The bleeding seemed to have stopped a good amount, and now the next step was to try and clean up the residue sugar off of  _ both  _ of them. Robbie started by removing his vest and shirt, as well as his pants and shoes until he was standing there in a tank top and boxers. Thankfully the frosting didn’t get past any other layers of his clothing. Even though Sportacus was comatose, the idea of being naked around him was out of the question.

He then went over to Sportacus, removing the elf’s shoes, socks, and pants. Robbie thanked his luck that the elf was wearing underwear. Some of the blood had soaked the waistband of Sportacus’s boxers, but Robbie  _ refused  _ to take anything else off of the elf; his face was hot with a mortified blush already.  _ Of all the ways I could have imagined undressing this freak, I never thought it would be under these circumstances… _

Robbie paused at that thought.  _ Shit…  _ He closed his eyes and sighed. “I thought we were over this, lover boy,” he whispered to himself, scalding himself as his heart fluttered shamelessly in his chest.

He glanced at Sportacus’s face. Once side of the elf’s face was caked with frosting from how Robbie had been carrying him. Sometime from the beginning of the cake fight to when they got to the cave the elf’s hat had fallen off; his golden hair was turned brown from the icing. To be quite frank the elf was a fucking mess – a dirty, injured, sleeping mess…

And yet Robbie’s heart still pounded as he heard a soft sigh escape Sportacus’s lips. Robbie frowned, looking away as he crossed his arms.  _ I know better than this! A pretty elven face can’t change the fact that he’s my nemesis.  _ He got up, removing the ripped T-shirt from the wound with a sigh. The bleeding had stopped, though Robbie saw that there was some melted chocolate around the wound that needed to be cleaned up. The rain was still pouring outside, and he walked to the mouth of the cave.  _ Maybe a walk in the freezing rain will knock some sense into me,  _ he thought as he rinsed out the rag in a nearby puddle.

Once it was clean enough for his liking, he returned to the elf. He made a point of not looking at Sportacus’s face as he dabbed the wet cloth at the wound. The rise and fall of the elf’s chest under his hand felt so strange... so warm. After he had cleaned the area around the wound, he squeezed some of the water from the rag into the gash. Sportacus winced at the action, though not enough to fully rouse him.

Robbie’s eyes then fell on the elf’s face. He  _ could  _ just leave the elf looking like a cake decorating accident… but given the circumstances he decided it would be best to make sure there was no sugar on his skin at all. After rewashing the rag in the puddle, he got to work wiping off the chocolate around Sportacus’s mouth and nose. As he washed the cheeks next, he noticed the slight fluttering of the elf’s eyes. Robbie froze.  _ Please don’t wake up… don’t make this more awkward than it already is! _

Luck was on his side, and Robbie sighed as the elf seemingly dozed off again. Robbie quickly got the elf’s face clean after that. As he moved onto the hair, he knew there was going to be a problem. It was such curly hair… he would need a lot more than a damp cloth to rinse it off. He looked around the cave, noticing stalactites hanging from the ceiling. A memory buzzed in his mind about an old TV program he watched as he dozed off one day. Stalactites were made by water… which meant that there might be water somewhere in this cave?

Robbie closed his eyes and listened. He heard the sound of the crackling fire behind them, and the sound of Sportacus’s soft snores… and then he heard a soft dripping of water. He grabbed a flaming branch from the fire, holding it as a torch as he walked deeper into the cave. As he walked deeper into the cave, the warmer it got. Soon he saw steam too. Then, he came across a small underground lake. Steam drifted off the surface of the clear water.  _ A… hot springs? _

He looked around at the chasm. After a moment he noticed that there were unlit torches on the walls, and he moved to light one nearby. Then another. Soon the majority of the section of cave was lit up, and Robbie couldn’t help but gape at it.

While it was obvious this place hadn’t been used in  _ a while,  _ at one point this had been a private retreat for someone important. The natural stone of the cave had been carved into intricate designs, the floor cut into steps that vanished beneath the water’s surface – and in the middle of the hot springs was a statue of a sleeping owl.  _ Jareth…  _ Robbie frowned slightly as he looked at it.

After looking around a little while longer, he spotted a pitcher submerged on a nearby step. He reached down to get it and sighed as he felt the warm water caress his skin. Robbie almost pouted as he turned to walk away, the pitcher in hand.  _ After I get Sportacus taken care of… maybe I could take a quick dip in the water? _ The image of the owl statue made him feel uneasy for some reason… he didn’t know why though.  _ If Jareth used this hot spring, then it must be a good place, right? _

He quickly made his way back to Sportacus. The elf had managed to fall over onto his side, and Robbie rolled his eyes.  _ The poor thing’s helpless without me _ . He sat the pitcher on the ground beside him, and slowly lifted the elf’s head. Robbie slowly ran his fingers through a lock of hair as he began to pour. He frowned.  _ Even when it’s filthy… his hair is so soft. _

Sportacus sighed as Robbie rinsed his hair, and Robbie paused to study him.  “… Móðir…” Sportacus whispered, a soft smile working its way onto his face. The elf rolled his head into Robbie’s hand, a move that made the tall man blush a deep crimson red. He quickly rinsed out the rest of the elf’s hair, then used the rest of the water to give the wound one more clean for good measure.

Robbie then threw all of the dirty clothing into a pile, figuring that while he took a swim he could wash them all up. As he did so he spotted the crystal. He was understandably reluctant to touch it again, but he knew he couldn’t leave it here… and he didn’t trust Sportacus in the state that he was in – not that the elf could have possibly done something to lose it. Slowly, Robbie raised the chain over his head, and winced as he put it around his neck. He sighed in relief when he felt no pain; the crystal was peacefully silent. He picked up the clothes and started walking away… but he paused to look at Sportacus. Something inside of him told him to do something more as he watched the elf sleep against the side of the cave.

Robbie groaned.  _ What’s the matter with me…  _ He dropped the clothes on the ground, then walked over to Sportacus. Carefully, he pushed the elf closer to the fire – it was warm enough in the cave as it was, but still… today he was feeling awfully generous and caring, even for his most hated enemies. If he had a blanket to give the elf he would have, but for now that would have to do.

Then a thought occurred to him.  _ Maybe he needs sports candy to get better?  _ He winced at the idea of even touching fruits and vegetables… not that there was any around for him to give Sportacus. Robbie looked outside, noticing the green leaves on the trees nearby.  _ Leaves are pretty much like salad, right?  _ He thought with a frown.  _ I guess we’ll find out… _

He ran out into the rain, ripping a few leaves off of a nearby tree before running back inside the cave. Robbie kneeled by the Sportacus, turning the elf’s head while easing his jaw open. “Candy time, Sportaflop,” Robbie whispered as he shoved a leaf into Sportacus’s gaping mouth. He waited for a moment, expecting the elf to jump to life. When nothing happened, he shoved another one in. Then another. Sportacus still laid there fast asleep no matter how many leaves Robbie put in his mouth.

“Fine, sleep then I guess,” Robbie said, letting go of the elf’s head in frustration. As he did so, he noticed the elf reflexively chew, swallowing slowly. A sour expression worked its way onto Sportacus’s face, and a small groan escaped his mouth. Robbie snorted slightly. “I guess even a freak like you doesn’t like leaves.”

Robbie picked up the clothes once more and turned to Sportacus.  _ I’ll be back soon goofball…  _ With that, he took off towards the hot spring. Once there, he wasted no time in stripping out of his undergarments. If there was anything he was a sucker for besides cake, it was nice hot baths. After the day he just had, he wanted to drown in soothing hot water.

He took a hesitant step into the water, the temperature making his hiss slightly.  _ Juusstt right, _ he thought as he walked down into the water. After taking the time to get use to the temperature, he dived underneath to wet his hair. As he rose to the surface he sighed in contentment. “This is the life,” he said with closed eyes.

Robbie took a few minutes to relax before washing the clothes. His were the dirtiest, the stains impossible to remove. After fighting with them for a few minutes, he snapped his fingers in frustration. The stains instantly vanished. He did the same for the other clothes, and after carefully laying each garment out to dry he returned to relaxing.

If there was any sport that Robbie could say he was good, if at least capable at it was swimming… or at least ‘not drowning’. It was so effortless to just still his body and float, the water around him cushioning him just right; it felt like floating – like flying without the terror of being up too high. If he could, he would have fallen asleep right then and there in the water. It felt like all of his worries were being washed away.

He walked further into the spring, feeling called deeper with each passing moment. The steam was getting thicker now, almost like smoke. He past the statue of the sleeping owl, and soon noticed something in the water – a silhouette of someone or something. Robbie paused, narrowing his eyes as he took cautious steps forward. The steam dissipated around him suddenly, and he couldn’t help but gasp… and turn bright red.

“Hello, darling,” Jareth said, raising his eyes to meet Robbie’s with a smile. The Goblin King lounged against a conveniently placed rock, his arms draped to his sides across his makeshift chair. His normally fluffy white hair flowed like silk over his shoulders, and his bare chest rose and fall in a hypnotic dance that left Robbie speechless.  _ Is he… is he naked?! _

“W-what are you doing here?” Robbie asked, lowering himself in the water to hide himself from the King. He didn’t think he was  _ quite  _ ready to be this… intimate with Jareth. Not that the idea sounded gross to Robbie, but right now after everything that had happened today? It just felt awkward.

Jareth sighed, sitting up from the rock. As he rose, it became apparent that the rock he had been lounging against rose just high enough that when Jareth stood… it showed  _ way more  _ than Robbie ever dreamed of seeing that day; Robbie almost screamed.  _ Jesus Christ… _

Robbie closed his eyes tightly, taking a few steps back until his back was against the owl statue. His face felt so hot, the steam in the room not helping make the situation any better. “Jareth!”

“Yes darling?” Jareth said. The Goblin King was night  _ right  _ next to Robbie, making the taller man nearly jump. His eyes shot open in fright, only to be met by the mismatched eyes of Jareth. An amused smirk warmed the king’s face. “Have I surprised you, my sweet? Does this… excite you?”

_ Holy fuck. Holy fuck. Holy fuck.  _ Robbie looked away in embarrassment. “Jareth… please…”

“Please what?” Jareth said, his lips grazing Robbie’s ear. Robbie nearly fell over at the feeling of Jareth’s bare flesh pressing against his side. Jareth chuckled in a deep, seductive voice. “Please… more?”

“N-no…” Robbie said, biting his lip as his eyes looked  _ anywhere  _ but at Jareth _.  _ While he loved how… forward Jareth could be at times, this was more than he could handle. Jareth only sighed, pressing his hand against Robbie’s stomach.

“I think your body is saying otherwise,” Jareth whispered. That was the final straw for Robbie, and he turned away from Jareth with a strained groan. The Goblin King frowned at being pushed away, crossing his arms almost as if to pout. “Have I done something to upset you, Robert?”

_ Robert?  _ Robbie thought with a frown.  _ No one’s ever called me that… Not even my mother, even if I was in trouble.  _ Hearing it come from Jareth’s mouth felt… weird. All of this felt so weird, and he shook his head to rid himself of the strange fog in his mind. He remembered Sportacus in that moment and remembered everything that had happened earlier that day. A shaky sigh escaped his lips. “Jareth… why did you send that monster after us?”

The Goblin King was silent for a moment, then he chuckled. “To teach that elf a lesson of course,” Jareth said, his tone dismissive. This answer didn’t satisfy Robbie though.

“But it tried to attack  _ me _ ,” Robbie said, lowering his gaze. “It… almost killed me – and it would have, if Sportacus hadn’t…” Robbie clutched his arms around him, holding himself as he kept his gaze lowered. There were tears brimming at the corners of his eyes. “If… if you love me, why would you do something like that? I could have been killed, I was so  _ scared _ ! Why?!”

His tone rose to a pained cry. Jareth looked at him with wide eyes, his gaze darting down almost as if in shame. There was a silence between them for a while, Robbie just staring at him in disbelief. Jareth finally let out a sigh, looking up at Robbie. “I’m…” Jareth bit his lip, looking uncomfortable. “… Sorry. Can you find it in yourself to forgive me?”

Robbie looked up to meet the Goblin King’s gaze. Jareth’s eyes were pleading, almost begging Robbie… it broke his heart.  _ Surely he didn’t mean for it to try and hurt me… right?  _ After a moment, he gave Jareth a slow nod.

“Excellent,” Jareth said, moving closer to Robbie. As he did this, Robbie stepped backwards. Jareth paused, looking at Robbie in confusion. “… I thought you said you forgive me.”

Robbie bit his lip, sinking a little lower into the water. He felt bad – Jareth had apologized to him… but still, this was all too much. “I do forgive you Jareth… but I don’t want… I’m not ready to see you like  _ this _ … Please, not now. Not yet.”

Jareth stood there for a few seconds with a disappointed frown on his face. Robbie was worried that he had angered Jareth; the last thing he wanted was another monster coming his way.  _ But he didn’t mean to send the monster, don’t be so negative… it’s fine.  _ After a while, Jareth just sighed. “As you wish.”

With that, he vanished. Robbie looked around the hot spring warily, his heart fluttering from the encounter.  _ I’ve had enough excitement for today.  _ He waded through the water until he found his way back to the steps. He slid his boxer shorts and tank top back on, then gathered up the drying clothes before making his way back to Sportacus.

Said elf was still out, though Robbie could have sworn that he already looked much better. _Maybe the leaves did help,_ he thought with a soft smile. As he laid out the clothes to dry, his eyes flitted over to the sleeping Sportacus. Thinking back to the encounter he just had with Jareth he sighed. _God knows what could have happened because of that cake monster thing…_ _you saved me, and you could have died because of it… You took a chocolate bullet for me._

He pressed his hand against his drying pants. They were a bit damp, but for the most part okay. Slowly, he moved over to the elf and draped the pants over his bare torso. Sportacus let out a soft, content sigh at this act, and Robbie felt a flutter within his chest.

“… Thank you Sportacus…” He said, turning his gaze towards the fire. He sat like that for a while, staring at the flames as he got lost in thought. He thought of the day they had, and everything that had happened. He thought of Jareth and Sportacus and the kids and soon found that it made him very, very tired.

He rolled up his vest for a makeshift pillow, curling up in a ball to get comfortable. His eyes felt so heavy, and yet as he laid there across the fire from Sportacus, his mind couldn’t help but wander even further. He studied the elf’s face, his heart and mind fluttering with questions.

His exhaustion finally defeated him, his eyes closing with one final thought.  _ Sportacus… who are you? I need to know… _

 

He was already asleep before he could feel the crystal buzzing at his chest, the glow lighting up the cavern as it’s magic granted Robbie’s wish. As Robbie entered his dreams, he would find that it was not  _ his  _ dreams he was seeing.

 


	10. The Young Elf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //aaaa wow this is a late installment. I'd like to apologize for taking so long on this one, life happened and this got pushed to the back burner. I made sure to make this chapter extra long to make up for it. 
> 
> This chapter goes a bit into backstory. I explained in an earlier chapter that I was going to take some liberties with backstories in order to tie the two universes together, so this delves into that quite a bit. There will be more backstory later on in the story, and I hope this all makes sense in the end X'D 
> 
> Thank you all for the views and kudos and comments. They really mean a lot to me and I love reading what you all have to say about the story. I hope you enjoy this installment <3

The sky was clear that day – not a single cloud, or any heavy wind. It was the perfect day for flying, and for travel. He had been counting the days eagerly for two and nearly one-half months; he was restless, even by his standards. His mother had told him that today father was coming home, and the young elf watched the sky with excited eyes.

He watched the large doors below him with weary eyes every now and again. The library of the academy was quiet at this hour; no one had noticed him yet as he sat high up in the rafters. This was his favorite hiding spot. The Grand Matron had never been able to find him here, and the few other students who managed to spot him kept their mouths shut; no one liked the Grand Matron.

He leaned up against the windowsill of a secluded skylight, one of the only in the building without stained glass. The stained glass was nice, some of them depicting the greatest heroes of legend… though they weren’t meant for gazing out. He liked watching the city; it made him feel like a protector, a hero. His favorite skylight happened to have the best view of the sky port from anywhere in the city.

If he stayed here, he’d be able to see exactly when father flew in. He clutched his knees to his chest as he rocked. _I can’t wait to hear all about your travel’s Father – I want to know about everyone you saved and all the sights you saw._

Every chance he got he had trained hard since father had left. He practiced his flips and pushups, ran wherever he went, and practiced all of his father's’ tips for being a good hero… and he hoped that when his father left next time, he’d take him with him. He sighed. _I want to explore the world with you… I’ve asked every single time and every single time you told me that I need to be a bit stronger before I could travel. I know now you’ll let me come with you Father, just you wait until you see how strong I’ve gotten!_

He heard a shuffle below him and looked down hesitantly. A sigh escaped his lips when he saw and upperclassman looking up at him with a soft giggle. She was always nice to him, despite being in the Grand Matron’s private classes. Usually only the most snobbish students were in her classes.

“… Is she coming?” He asked, his eyes shifting around the library cautiously. She nodded, her body turning as the double doors slammed open with a thunderous bang. The few students that were in the room cowered at the sound; some picked up their readings and moved to the sides of the room. The shadow of a single figure descended upon them like a cold gust of wind; everyone shivered at the sight of her.

“… Where is he?” the Grand Matron asked, her voice ice cold as her eyes scanned the area. The young elf made himself as small as he could, moving out of the windowsill and behind a dusty beam. He swallowed nervously. The Grand Matron was an ancient elven woman, her eyes dark and her mouth drawn taught like an angry frog. Elven eternal youth didn’t hide her years well, since her soul was about as old as dirt and bitter like only an elderly woman could be. She had taught his father in school, and maybe even his grandfather and great grandfather by some accounts. People say she was one of the oldest elves in the kingdom besides the ancients – and she terrified everyone who met her.

The upperclassman wore a fake frown on her face, her acting skills on point. “I’ve already searched the room Grand Matron… The Prince isn’t here,” she said. The Grand Matron hummed in acknowledgment, marching forward until she was in the center of the library. Her footsteps echoed off the stone walls. Everyone shifted their gaze away from her, some students even trembling. The Grand Matron let out a poised sigh.

“Thank you for your effort, young Lilja,” the Grand Matron said, not even turning to address the student face to face. “I’m glad that at least one of my students has some sense… but the Prince is a sneaky child, and you must know where to look for especially naughty little elves. He is here… I can practically smell him.”

The young elf sniffed his clothes nervously, wondering how that could be so. The Grand Matron always wore an expression of having a stuffy nose that it was a miracle that should smell a thing. She turned to address the other students in the library and scowled. “If I find that any of you knew of the prince’s whereabouts and did nothing, your punishment will be harsh – worse than any punishment I have given a student in all my years of service at this academy.”

Nervous glances were sent between the students. There was no doubt in anyone’s minds that she was serious; she always followed through with her threats. However, despite their fear of her, no one said a word. Their silence only seemed to aggravate her more.

“I grow tired of this foolish little game you all play,” she said as her eyes narrowed. “I know you all willingly allow him to hide and neglect his studies! Is that what you all want? A kingdom with an ill prepared king? That’s what you are all creating with your silence! It is your duty to provide the prince with a learning environment free of distraction-”

He rolled his eyes. The Grand Matron always got onto these rants about kings and the importance of learning about etiquette and boring things that old people did. After a while he had learned to tune her out in favor of thinking about things like traveling and saving people in need of help. She always got angry at him when he started to drift off or fidget, smacking her ruler down on his desk to make him pay attention; he despised her.

His gaze turned to the window, staring at the sky port one last time. He wished he could just fly away from this place sometimes… fly away in an airship of his own to do important things; things that mattered. There was a small flash of light from the port, and he narrowed his eyes. A big smile then warmed his face as he saw the familiar silhouette of his father’s airship emerge from the cloud barrier that hid the floating city. _Father!_

His gaze shifted nervously to the Grand Matron bellow him. She was still going on about etiquette and manners, and thankfully not currently on the hunt for him. He took a deep breath, and then as delicately as he could he jumped over to the nearest beam. A swell of pride filled him when this move made nearly no sound. _Just how Father would do it_ , he thought with a smile. The young elf then jumped to another beam, and another after that one. With each move he made, get got closer to the doors of the library. If he could just sneak out without the matron knowing, he could quickly run to the port to greet his father. He almost made it to the last beam, nearly laughing at how easy this was… when the one he landed on let out a sickeningly loud creak. The young elf froze, his breath stilling in his throat as he felt the beady eyes of the matron fall on him.

“ _You…_ ” the Grand Matron hissed, her cold tone causing the rest of the students to gasp in fear. “ _Get down at ONCE_!”

The young elf swallowed as flipped gracefully onto the next beam, then onto the last before sliding down the smooth side of a stone pillar close to the exit. A shiver ran down his spine as he felt the matron descend upon him, and he wasted no time in bolting out of the library.

In his mind he pictured the Matron as a horrible monster chasing him… not that she wasn’t already, but pretending she was worse made him run faster. _Just like a training exercise_ , he told himself as his heart pounded nervously in his chest. He looked back to see her furious sneer growing closer and closer, and he gulped. _The hardest training exercise I’ve ever faced…_

He bolted down the hallway, making his way towards the school’s courtyard. As he turned down the next corridor he gasped. _Oh no…_ two armored guards stood at attention on either side of the exit. As the Grand Matron rounded the bend after him, she shouted. “Stop him! Stop the Prince!”

Both guards got into defensive stances, their arms outstretched ready to catch him. The young elf narrowed his eyes in determination. As he drew close to the door, he crouched low as if to duck between the guard’s legs. They dived low to catch him. _Gotcha!_ He thought with a smile.

He let out a laugh as he instead jumped sideways, rebounding off the hallway walls as he dove feet first through the glass paneling of the courtyard doors. They shattered loudly, and glass flew everywhere. A small surge of guilt filled him; breaking things was wrong. _Father won’t be too happy when he finds out about that…_

The commotion caught the attention of more guards, who charged towards him. Adrenaline was coursing through him as he ran. At the far end of the courtyard was the beginning of a zip line chain normally used for mail delivery. He made a b-line towards it, dodging the grabbing arms of multiple guards. They shouted at him in frustration; by then they had all grown tired of his escape attempts.

Just as they almost grabbed him, the young elf jumped as hard as he could for the line. His eyes were wide as he reached out his arms in hopes that he’d grab the chain. If he missed, it would be a long fall down. His body jerked slightly as he caught hold of a package crate. A small sigh of relief escaped his lips. _That was close…_

The guards were all too heavy to use the line, and they watched with annoyance as the young prince zipped away from them. He heard the frantic clicking of the Matron’s shoes on the stone courtyard; he could only imagine the face she was making when he heard her screeched behind him. “There will be dire consequences for this!”

The young elf smiled as he got farther and farther away from his pursuers. As he neared the end of the line, he flipped off and onto a nearby roof. Once he had steadied himself, he proceeded forwards towards the sky port – jumping rooftop to rooftop. Down below him was a small market place. He could smell Rúgbrauð coming from a nearby bakers’ shop, and heard the sound of some performers playing music. The performers looked up at him and laughed.

“Hey, it’s the prince!” they said, pointing as more people took notice of the young elf. There were laughs and cheers, and he waved to them all with a big smile on his face.

It wasn’t long before he reached the sky port, flipping onto the docks. He ran down the docking bay towards the lowering air ship. He got some confused stares from some of the pilots who saw him, though no one moved to do anything about him. The young elf was thankful for this; all he wanted was to see his father.

The royal procession was already there, a few choice guards grabbing hold of ropes sent down from the cabin of the ship. He tried to catch a glimpse of his mother among them; she had been feeling ill this morning – she probably was resting. He was silently thankful for that; if mother found out that he had ran away from school again she would have been very disappointed.

His father’s ship finally docked, and he watched with wide eyes as the door lowered far too slowly for his liking. The procession bowed low to the ground in reverence, silken robes pooling on the cobblestone. He shifted through them on light feet to try and avoid tripping on the legs or long beards of some of his father’s advisors. Their lowered eyes either did not notice or care that he was approaching.

He couldn’t help but grin as he saw his father’s brown leather boots come into view as the man walked down the long ramp. His smile faltered however when he noticed the expression his father wore; lost in thought with a deep frown that made him look old – tired. _What’s wrong…_

Before he could call out, the advisors rose from their bows and swarmed around his father like flies to honey. He was pushed aside by each one until he stood at the back of the crowd. An annoyed frown marred his face. _Jerks…_

Each one babbled on about a policy that needed looked over, or a document that needed signing. The young elf jumped up and down to try and see over the crowd. “Father! Welcome home father!” he called out, trying to overcome the buzzing of the procession. It was no use; He couldn’t even see his father from how close the councilmen crowded him. A defeated frown worked its way onto his face as he lowered his head.

At this rate he’d have to wait until later that night to even see his father. The councilmen would bombard him for hours and hours with paperwork and notices that had piled up during his absence. It wasn’t fair. _He’s my dad, not theirs. They should learn to wait their turn!_ A small tear ran down his face. _At least let me hug him…_

“Aren’t you supposed to be in school?” a soft voice said behind him. He froze. Slowly, he turned with an apprehensive look on his face. There was never anger on her kind, youthful face – but the pain in her eyes stung worse than a sharp glare. _Mother…_

The young elf never understood when the other children talked of their mothers yelling at them or worse. He never once heard his mother raise her voice in anger, not even when he did something very bad. There was such a gentleness to her eyes, something that reached deep inside of her. It was like her heart was made of glass. Her big blue eyes were like that of a startled doe – the small creases underneath and the glassy sheen almost like tears made her look so delicate; shouting would have shattered her.

Her attendants stood close by at all times. Their eyes never left the queen’s face, watching for any sign of weakness or need. The queen’s eyes remained locked onto her sons.

“Would you believe me if I said they let me out early to see father?” he asked, trying on a sheepish smile and he hastily wiped away his stray tear. She shook her head slowly, her long soft hair swaying with the movement. Her hair was like pure silk, nearly white with wavy curls all the way down to her hips. A soft frown formed on her pale lips.

“You promised me that you wouldn’t skip school again,” she said with a soft sigh. “The headmistress has been so cross lately with your performance.”

“It’s not my fault móðir,” he said with a lowered head.

“If it is not your fault honey, then what is?” she asked, her voice smooth and collected. “I have asked you not to leave class, yet you still do. Is there something that you’re not telling your father and I? Are kids being impolite to you?”  

The young elf really did feel bad for disappointing mother. He knew the importance of education, his father told him that. He needed math to solve problems and science was important to understand how things worked. History helped him understand the mistakes of the past to ensure that the future never repeated them, and he needed the arts and language to form himself creatively and socially… but what the headmistress taught him made his heart sink and his stomach turn. Every lesson, no matter how important was tainted with a bitterness that made him squirm. Things that he knew father would not approve of.

“The lessons she teaches go against everything father has taught me… she tells me bad things. Mean things.”

His mother raised her brow at this. She bent down slightly, her attendants mimicking her movement cautiously. Her eyes were full of worry. “What is she telling you?”

He bit his lip. His brain went back to the history lesson she started earlier that day. “… She calls the humans ‘subspecies’,” he said, feeling a cold anger in his chest as he said it. “She said they’re animals and savages that only know violence. She said that humans are the reason that we built the sky city – to get away from them. She said that they don’t deserve our help… she said father is wasting his time with his diplomatic missions.”

The queen looked away, her hands clasped together so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her eyes watered slightly as she fiddled with a small copper band on her finger; human craftsmanship.

“I see,” she said, her voice trembling slightly. With grace she rose from her bend, her attendants steadying her wobbly stance as her eyes glazed slightly from the sudden movement. After a moment she sighed. “I will repeat this to your father later. I’m sure that he will be just as displeased about this as I am.”

The young elf frowned as he watched her worried face. He hated that look she got when her eyes watered, and she wrung her hands fretfully. “I’m sorry,” he said.

She looked down at him with confusion. “Honey, what are you apologizing for?”

He shrugged slightly, placing his hands in his tunic pockets. “For upsetting you…”

A small gasp escaped her lips as she lowered herself once more to her son’s level. Her attendants held onto her elbows as he knelt this time, their eyes watching the queen like hawks. “Honey, you didn’t upset me, what your teacher has been saying upset me…”

She stretched out her arms, and the young prince didn’t hesitate to fall into them as he hugged her. As she wrapped her arms around him, he sighed in content. His mother was always so warm, and she smelled sweet like honey and oats. Her fingers stroked through his hair soothingly like soft feathers. If he was a cat, he would have purred. The sound of her heartbeat sung throughout him; soft, like the steady flutter of a bird’s wing. She was comfort to him; she was home. “You should never feel ashamed for telling the truth – always be brave enough to say what needs to be said,” she said.

“Yes mamma,” he said softly, burying his face in her neck. “I promise.”

Her head shifted softly, and her grip around him softened enough to make him look up. She gazed behind him with a big smile, and when he turned to see he smiled too.

“Pabbi!” he said, running into his father’s outstretched arms. His attendants still swarmed close by muttering their grievances, but no one intervened as the king swept his son up into the air and tossed him playfully. The young elf laughed, his arms clasping around his father’s neck as the strong elven man caught him. Father’s hugs were always so strong, and his mustache tickled him as he kissed his cheek.

“I’ve missed you sport,” he said, and the young elf giggled. Sport was a word the humans used to describe their fun games – father used it as a nickname for him because ‘playing with him was the funnest game of all’. Father always came home with a new sport to try out; he was excited to see what game he brought back this time. Last time was a strange human game called ‘bad mitten’. Father had seen the game from up in his airship on his way home and flew down to play with them until he learned the game; it delayed his return by two days, but it was worth it.

“I missed you too pabbi,” the young elf said, hugging his father tightly. “I watched the skies all day waiting for you.”

His father pulled back slightly, looking his son in the eyes. “All day, huh? Did you escape from the headmistress again?”

The young elf gave his father a small smile. “Maybe…”

A small look of frustration crossed his father’s eyes, though it didn’t linger long. There was a moment of silence before the king laughed. “She could lock you in a cage and you’d still get away her. She’s lost her edge, I could never get away from her when I was your age.”

“She couldn’t catch me even if she had an army,” the young elf said with a laugh. While he knew his father wasn’t happy about him skipping school, he sensed a bit of pride at his talents; it made him feel warm inside. _Maybe now he’ll take me with him…_

He felt his mother’s hand on his back as she pulled the both of them into a hug. The king smiled at his queen with soft, warm eyes. “I missed you, Fríða,” he said in almost a whisper. She answered by leaning in and planting a soft kiss upon his lips; he returned it with a soft sigh. The young elf scrunched his eyes shut and stuck out his tongue in disgust. _Yucky…_

His father laughed at this, ruffling his hand playfully through his curly golden hair. “Aw, someday you won’t mind so much – you might even find that you enjoy it.”

The young elf shook his head, pouting slightly at the suggestion. “No I won’t!”

One of the king’s councilmen cleared his throat, taking a step closer; he tapped his foot loudly against the stone pathway. “Sire, there are things that must be attended to. Now.”

“Will you give me a few minutes alone with my wife and child?” The king said, his voice slow and stern. He carefully sat the young elf back down on the ground as he turned to face the man. The prince bit his lip as he watched his father. Surprisingly, the councilman didn’t back down, crossing his arms over his long white beard as he stared at his king with a scowl.

“It was _you_ that said you had urgent news in your coming home letter, sire,” the councilman said, narrowing his dark grey eyes. “Will you delay us and yourself further from matters of importance? Your son – who should still be in _school_ – and wife will be waiting for you _after_ we discuss this news.”

_Urgent news?_ The young elf thought as he looked up at his father. He saw a tension in the king’s composure as well as the uneasiness in his eyes. _Is something wrong?_

The king sighed after a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose. “No, you’re right… assemble in the council room, I’ll be there shortly.”

The councilman bowed quickly before leading the crowd away. His father frowned with distant eyes as he turned back to his family. The young elf’s eyes were wide, his heart and mind racing. “Father…”

“What’s wrong Ithro?” his mother asked, gripping her husband’s arm carefully. Her wide eyes met his. The king gave her an unconvincing smile, placing a soft kiss on her cheek; she bit her lip with quiet concern.

“It’s fine Fríða,” he said, slowly stepping away towards the diminishing crowd. “I just need to discuss some things with the council… I’ll tell you more later, alright?”

He took off before either of them could say another word. The young elf looked between his mother and father, noting the way his mother’s face grew paler and the weight that hung over his father’s composure. Something was very wrong here.

“Ma’am, I think it might be best if we return to your chambers for some rest,” one of his mother’s attendants said, clutching her elbow as she began to lead the queen away. The queen nodded weakly, her eyes glazed over.

“a-alright,” she said with a voice that was barely louder than a whisper. The young elf stood there alone now, watching his father go one direction and his mother go in another. His eyes lingered on his mother as her attendants fussed over her. Father had explained to him in the vaguest of terms that mother was ‘delicate’, though he knew that was just a nicer way of saying that she was sick. He didn’t want to worry about her, yet when he saw the light vanish from her eyes it was hard not to; he hoped she could get better.

His fist clenched at his sides, his mind going a hundred miles an hour as he thought of everything. More than anything, he needed to know what was wrong with father. _I need to get into that meeting somehow…_

He quietly snuck after his father’s group, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. The city council building was a few blocks north of the port in a gated section that included all government buildings as well as the royal palace. He wasn’t sure if it was true of all buildings in the royal burrow, but he knew that the royal palace had hidden passageways for servants to travel about their chores unseen.

He knew how to get into the palace passage ways, since he liked to play in them often. Sometimes, if he hid in just the right spot, he could spy on people. He accidentally overheard his parents talking about his yule presents one time while playing in the tunnels, which almost spoiled the holiday for him. If he could find the passageways in the council building, he could listen to the meeting.

For a moment he decided to go back to the palace to try and navigate his way from the palace passageways to the council building… but he quickly threw the plan out, seeing as he didn’t even know if the council building had passages – and even if they did, the meeting would be over by the time he made his way over there. Plus, what were the chances that all the servant tunnels were combined? That would have been a poor security choice for the ancient architects to have made.

He climbed up a tall pillar on a nearby housing complex until he was on the roof. Traveling from up high was a lot faster than trying to navigate the streets, and before he knew it, he was overlooking the city council building from atop a bell tower. His eyes studied the entrances, noticing a trail of councilmen and other politicians entering and exiting through the front. _Not there,_ he thought to himself. The numerous guards out front would have noticed him in an instant. They would send him home… or worse; back to school.

After a moment of studying, he moved from his tower to a tiny rooftop positioned to view behind the council building. It was there that he noticed a small stream of servants entering as a guard examined their paperwork. His eyes glinted with a plan as he saw a maid with a cart of wash clothes for the council kitchens. _There._

As quickly as he could, he hopped down from the roof and into the small servant’s courtyard. Thankfully the woman wasn’t paying too much attention to the cart, and he was easily able to jump inside and hide. He sighed; the linen was freshly washed and soft.

It was a few moments before it was the woman’s turn to be examined for entrance into the building. “Just bringing the laundry in,” she said, followed by the rustling of paper as she handed the guard her paperwork. The young elf held his breath, his heart pounding as he heard the guard take a few steps towards the cart. After a second or two, the guard reached into the pile of cloth; the prince curled against the corner of the cart to try and avoid the guard’s inspection.

Thankfully, the guard wasn’t being too thorough that day - something the young elf would tell his father later – and soon he was being wheeled into the building. It was quiet inside the servant’s quarters, and the young elf chanced a peak out from his hiding place. Everyone was bustling about their own business, rushing to and from their tasks with their heads lowered to the ground.

He silently got out of the cart, taking a towel to wrap around his head as a kerchief. It was a rudimentary disguise that he hoped would work long enough. _I’m no master of disguise… but it’ll have to do._

A group of women with feather dusters approached a guard in the corner of the room. He was sitting reading from a book, and lazily looked up to acknowledge the women. They whispered a few words he couldn’t hear, then with a silent nod, the guard moved his chair to reveal a small lever. When he pulled it, a narrow passageway opened up for the women to sneak through. _Bingo_ , the young elf thought.

The guard didn’t notice when he hastily joined behind the group of women, his head lowered to try and hide his face. He almost frowned at the security here when the passageway closed behind him. _And I thought escaping from school was easy_ … he shook his head as he made his way around the passages.

He had only been to the council building a few times before, mainly for field trips or public events that his parents allowed him to come to. He only had a rough idea of where the council room could be – and no idea which way to go to get there.

“What would pabbi do?” he whispered to himself, closing his eyes in frustration. He focused on the soft sounds around him, hearing the sound of a mouse chewing through the old, rotting boards that lined the passage way. Somewhere up ahead he heard the whispering of a few servants… his eyes opened with a bang.

With as silent of footsteps as he could muster, the young prince dashed through the passageway – his ears toned in on the faint sound of Councilman Gamli’s shouting voice. He remembered his voice because of the strange whistling noise at the end of his S’s and T's, and even in this cramped tunnel he could hear that whistle.

It didn’t take him long to find the passageway adjacent to the room. It was perfectly positioned at the end of a corridor, hidden out of sight of other servants passing by. Much to his frustration, he even found an eyehole carved into the wall there. _Security is going to hear an earful about this_ , he thought as a sour frown marred his face.

Despite his frustration, he resorted to using the eyehole to peak inside. The hole wasn’t large enough to see a lot, but thankfully he was able to see his father entering the room. Even before he arrived the councilmen were shouting at one another. He didn’t understand why they had to get so angry over politics; it was just simple laws and rules. As the doors of the council room closed behind the king, the bickering hushed to a soft hum. Everyone who was sitting stood to bow in reverence, and his father nodded for them to sit.

“Sire, we have numerous topics that you need to address,” a councilman said, rising from his seat while straightening his tunic. “But due to the urgency of the letter you sent us prior to you return home, we’d all like to address that first.”

His statement was followed by an agreeing chorus. His father sighed, visibly swallowing as he moved to the middle of the room where a podium stood. The room was silent as he began to speak.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the council, I will explain the details following this statement, but first you must know… that war might be coming,” he said.

A shocked gasp echoing around the room at his words. Confused whispers shot out in all directions as the king lowered his head. “What do you mean war?” A councilwoman asked as she rose from her seat. “Have the humans done something?”

“No, it is not the humans,” the king said as he shook his head. He reached up and removed his hat, grabbing the crystal at the end. As he slid the crystal into a projector slot on the podium, the room lit up with a large global map of the mortal world. On the map were red dots – the largest dot was somewhere in a place he remembered the humans called ‘north America’; it was flashing urgently. “In my travels, I have encountered many stories and legends of monsters that would come to villages and take away naughty children – many of which are just legends… but not all.”

The councilmen murmured in confusion, shooting puzzled glances between each other. The king continued, pointing to individual points on the map. “I have studied claims of missing children under ‘strange’ circumstances during my travels for over a hundred years. Recently I’ve noticed a trend in disappearances involving… special children.”

“Sire, where are you going with this?” a councilman asked, shaking his head in frustration. “Why do you expect us to care about human children going missing? What do humans have to do with war?”

“They aren’t human children,” the king said. As the council murmured, he continued. “The trend that I have been following involves the offspring non-mortal beings placed in the mortal world… a term the humans sometimes call ‘changeling’ children. These are children with varying degrees of magic and magical abilities – and I have reason to believe that they are being stolen because of these abilities. And I believe that the being taking them intends to use their powers for war.”

The crystal then showed a map of the non-mortal realms, a large flashing province centered. “I have matched the missing children with a signature that correlates to this realm. According to our records, it’s been quickly growing in scattered increments – each increment matching the sudden disappearance of a changeling child. I’ve also noticed the small, unmonitored realms surrounding this one have started to disappear. I believe they have been swallowed up, or in some way seized by this realm.”

The council room remained silent as the king continued. “The being responsible is mysterious – his realm has remained under the radar until now, and our records only describe it as a small kingdom belonging to an immortal king. I don’t know much about him, other than the legends humans say about him. He’s a trickster being, stealing ‘bad’ children and turning them into servants for himself – but I think there’s much more than that going on.”

As the map switched back to the mortal realm, the largest dot centered. “Until now, his targets have been small, favoring quantity over quality… but the small village that I just visited changes everything. I couldn’t identify the specific child in that village, but I could feel their power – this wasn’t just some ordinary changeling. This was something… above my own understanding, perhaps above all of our understandings. As I was staying in the town, I noticed the presence of goblins – the being’s underlings. That is when I sent my letter. I had hoped to return home before anything happened, to get some backup for all of this… but I was too late. I received a letter from the town earlier today that a child had gone missing. I believe that the changeling child was stolen – and I fear what this being intends to do with them. Judging the trend, he intends to expand, and with the power he just received he could very well be more powerful than us… we could be next.”

Murmurs spread throughout the council chamber. The young elf heart was racing, his eyes wide as a small wave of panic rushed over him. Another councilman addressed the king. “Sire, what do you wish to do about this?”

The king sighed. “I don’t want to wait for the fight to come to us, and I don’t want to risk any of our allied realms being attacked either… I’ve thought up plans for a small mission, just a handful of our most elite to infiltrate the realm in an attempt to take back the child that was stolen – the child is the key to him becoming dangerously powerful, and we cannot let him use them.”

A few whispers echoed throughout the chamber, some of them agreeing with the king’s plan. However, a councilman rose with an indignant huff. “Absolutely not!” he shouted. All eyes turned to the councilman. The young elf remembered him as Councilman Gegn, a fervent man with thinning blond hair and an overly-charismatic personality. He was conceded too, and the young elf did not like him one bit. “Entering an unallied realm without invitation would be an act of war in itself! As you said, he now possesses a great power – why should we risk provoking him? Do we know for certain he will attack us?”

The king frowned. “He already has great activity within our realm – the children he steals are from _our_ realm! Wouldn’t you think that his first act would be to secure his holdings here, to ensure the future capture of changeling children?”

“He captures children in the human dwellings of our realm – the lowly surface world!” Gegn said, addressing the council with a soft laugh. “We left the surface a thousand years ago – humans have their own affairs and we have ours! I say we ensure that none of our own are down below and just secure our holdings up here. Let the bastard have them and secure our own protection!”

A wave of agreement rushed over the crowd. The king glared at the councilman, stepping down from his podium and towards the man. “The humans are our neighbors Gegn, most of whom are friendly to us and our kind! Have you forgotten that my wife was raised by humans? They took her in as their own – just because they are not us doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to be treated with the same respect we give ourselves!”

“Your wife is sickly because of the food they fed her and the illnesses their uncleanliness brought her – their ‘kindnesses’ nearly killed her. Face it, the humans are savages! Why should we risk forfeiting a millennium of peace for a race that hasn’t even figured out what germs are yet? We can easily defend ourselves – maybe even forge agreements with this being if it comes to that.”

Gegn’s words were starting to gain popularity among the council, and the king shook his head. “Have we really fallen so far as to give up our compassion for prejudice?!” he said, pointing at the councilman. “Are you willing to live with your conscious knowing that you stood by and did nothing?”

“Are you willing to live with your conscious knowing that you caused thousands of our people to die over a single child?” Gegn said, and to the young elf’s dismay, the councilman’s words gained applause. The king looked around the room defeated, lowering his head in both disgust in disappointment.

“So, we abandon the humans for the being to use as he pleases,” the king said, his voice filled with disgust and silent rage. “What happens when he turns to us – if he isn’t interested in forging ‘agreements’ with us?”

“ _If_ that happens, we’ll be ready for him,” Gegn said as he straightened his tunic. “If we start now, we could fortify our city before anything happens – ensure that we can withstand any attack that this being throws at us.”

Other councilmen voiced their agreements, some voices shouting, ‘stockpile provisions’, and ‘update our particle barrier’. A small, sly smile worked its way onto Gegn’s face as he addressed the council. “All those in favor of strengthening our own defenses?”

The young elf glared at the councilman. The king was the one who was supposed to call for votes; his father was being humiliated and upstaged! As the majority of hands raised in favor of the councilman’s proposal, the king moved away from the podium and back to his seat. The young elf had never seen his father looking so helpless. Gegn proceeded to take the king’s previous place, addressing the crowd. “So, allow me to tie this in with our second order of business… it involves your son, sire.”

The young elf frowned. _Me?_ The king glared at Gegn. “What about my son?”

Some murmurs rushed over the crowd, and an amused smile worked its way onto the councilman’s face. “Your son idolizes you… too much. Your excursions to the surface world have filled his brain with fantasies that are only destructive to his education and his future as our figurehead. In your absence, we agreed that it would be in your son’s best interest if you cease your… ‘missions’ and stayed within the sky city. This new development only cements our position and your need to stay – not just for your son’s case, but for your own safety… and sire, all we want is for your son to be a good king – not some… human loving bleeding heart.”

The king jumped to his feet, a rage on his face that the young elf had never seen before. “How _dare_ you speak of my son in such a manner – say all you want about me and my ‘weakness’ for humans, but you will NOT talk about my son! I have taught him the importance of diplomacy, of caring about someone other than himself! You would have all those thoughts shattered and replaced with a xenophobic elitist mindset! You will not speak of this again – I am _your_ king, and he is _my_ son!”

“And WE are the elected council!” Gegn said, his voice reverberating off of the walls like thunder. “WE speak for the people, and the people need their king! The people need their best interests put first – the people don’t care about humans! The people don’t want war! They don’t want to die! Give the people what _they_ want!”

The applause in the room were like knives in both the king and the young elf’s heart. Tears were streaming down the young elf’s face, and he had to cup his hand over his mouth to muffle out the sound of his sobs. _Father… please, don’t listen!_

His father stood there for a moment, the applause dying out in the room as the council waited for the king’s response. It felt like an eternity before his father managed to speak once more. He swallowed hard, his voice frail. “If this is how the council feels…” he said, sitting down with glazed over eyes. “Then so be it.”

For generations their family had been diplomats for their people. Heroes, guardians – the last remnant of the relationship humans and elves once held a thousand years ago. Now, that was gone. Forever. His father was the last hero.

And the young elf’s dreams were shattered. He quickly ran out of the passages, not caring that people were staring, that the servants he had mingled with before now scrambled to bow before him. He didn’t want that life – he didn’t want to be their prince. He didn’t stop running until he was in his chambers. As he slammed the oaken door shut, he broke down. Heavy tears streamed down his face and splattered on the floor.

_I’ll never be a hero…_

It was an hour before he finally calmed down enough to form coherent thought and feel something other than sadness. The first emotion that filled him was rage – rage at Gegn, rage at the council. It didn’t matter what they all thought – humans were important too. His father had told him his dreams or reuniting with the surface world. He dreamed of peace and unity, the sharing of ideas and technologies to change the two races for the better.

And yet even in the face of war, the council scoffed at the thought of preventing an invasion of the mortal realm. Their hatred of humans blinded them. Couldn’t they see it would be in _their_ best interest to try and save the changeling child?

An idea started forming at the back of his mind – partially born of rage as well as hope. His father had wanted to rescue this powerful changeling, his father thought it was the right thing to do – it _was_ the right thing to do.

If father couldn’t do it…

He would do it for him.

 

~

 

_What else have you left to lose from shame, you fool?_

 

_\---------_

 

Robbie jolted up in his sleep, clasping at his chest with wide eyes and ragged breath. _What the fuck just happened?_

He looked down at the crystal on his chest and scrambled to remove it. It took a while in his panic, but he managed to get it off of his neck. He held it in front of him and scowled. Part of him wanted to throw the evil thing, curse it for giving him visions or dreams or whatever the heck he had seen… though his eyes fluttered over to Sportacus.

The elf was still sleeping, his face peaceful – no sign of pain. With a sigh, Robbie crawled over to the elf and carefully put the crystal back around his neck. His fingers lingered longer than his inner villain would have liked, but he found that for the most part he didn’t care.

That elven boy in the dream was Sportacus.

And Sportacus was a prince.

_He certainly doesn’t act like one_ , Robbie thought with a frown as memories of the elf fluttered in his brain. _Heroic, overly chivalrous, kind, do-gooder, athletic, natural leader…_

Sportacus was a typical prince all right, and Robbie groaned. _What’s an elven prince doing dressing up like a superhero and saving human children? Especially since the elven council apparently banned helping humans…_

There were so many questions racing in his mind, the first being how the crystal was able to do that, the second being… everything else.

In frustration he found himself just staring at Sportacus’s face. He looked so much like his father – yet his eyes were definitely his mothers. When he had shown up to LazyTown that fateful day that felt so long ago, he thought for certain that it was number 9 again. Yet it wasn’t. It was Sportacus 10: the younger, more energetic, handsomer…

“Fuck,” Robbie said, his voice a half-hearted whisper of frustration. He rolled his eyes at himself. It was time to stop denying it… when Sportacus had first come to LazyTown, he had fallen for the hero. All this time, he told himself to get over it – it was impossible. Sportacus was a hero, and he was a villain. He told himself he hated the elf… but he never listened to himself.

He needed to face the facts. For some dumb reason, this insufferable elf had captured his attention. And now, as the dream he had seen played out again in his mind, his heart fluttered.

_And elven prince… a hero… my hero_

His gaze turned to the smoldering embers of their fire, scowling absentmindedly. _What’s the matter with me? He’s- He’s just so…_

His gaze softened on Sportacus’s face as he studied him once more. Something inside of Robbie felt so strange – so warm. He didn’t try to fight it.

_Sportacus…_

This made things ten times more complicated. Now he had to evaluate himself – he needed to look inside of himself to see what he wanted more. What he needed more.

A Goblin King

Or an Elven Prince


End file.
